31 Day October Challenge
by FutureStar27
Summary: "Beware the autumn people"-Ray Bradbury. My attempt at the October Theme Challenge.
1. Autumn

**Hey, guys! So, since I just LOVE to overload myself with responsibilities, I've decided to do an October theme challenge. I know, I know, I'm crazy for giving myself one more thing that I need to update, but my primary reason for doing this is to get my lost creativity and motivation back. I'm hoping that writing something every day will get me back to a more regular update schedule with my other stories as well as get me past this HUGE mental block I seem to be suffering from. October is also my favorite month so I just couldn't resist.**

 **The challenge I'm using is the 2015 Spooky Art Challenge by Savodraws on deviantart. I know, I'm two years late to this particular party, but I liked the themes in this challenge more than I liked the themes in the 2017 one.**

 **For the first theme, I wanted to do something besides fluff with Selissa, so I decided to go with a Greek God/Goddess AU. With that said, this theme is loosely based on the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, with some of my own little twists of course.**

 **Also, just a little warning, there is a bit of noncon in this theme. It doesn't go beyond kissing, but I wanted to provide a warning just in case it bothers people.**

 **Anyway, I think that covers everything I needed. So, read on guys. Happy October!**

* * *

" _She who walks the floors of Hell_

 _finds the key to the gates of her own Heaven_

 _buried there like a seed."_

 _-Segovia Amil_

 **I.**

One warm, sun-kissed afternoon, Alissa lay back in the long grasses by the stream that trickled through the paddock at the southern edge of the garden. Bees hummed through the still air and above the lapping waters of the stream. Butterflies glided elegantly and came to rest beside the resting young woman. She sighed and rolled over to prop herself up on her elbows, her thick curls falling down her shoulders to tickle the small of her back. Moments to herself were few and far between. She had always considered herself curious. She longed to explore and learn but her overbearing mother hardly ever left her side. She hadn't even gone outside the garden without her mother by her side.

As Alissa lifted herself from the ground, she made a decision. Today would be the day that she finally left the garden to explore the land nearby. She was old enough now; she had nothing to fear from the outside world that her mother warned her about. The humans who lived nearby were loyal to her and her mother and loved them for bringing yet another bountiful harvest. She had nothing to fear from them.

She cast a glance over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being watched and then hefted herself over the fence. Once her feet touched the ground on the other side, she ran. A smile crept onto her face as the wind brushed against her cheeks. Her wild, curly hair fanned out behind her as she ran. Only when she could barely see the garden did she come to a stop. She took in her surroundings, her smile growing.

It was beautiful beyond the garden. Butterflies danced through the lush blades of grass, birds sang before settling in their nests hidden inside the branches of the trees. _How could mother have been afraid of all this?_ She continued to look around until her eyes settled on a bed of flowers a few yards away. She approached the flowers almost as if she was being pulled on a string. She knelt in front of the yellow flowers and plucked one out to smell it. A content smile spread across her face and she placed the flower in her hair.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. She stood up quickly, ready to make a run for it when the ground behind her began to split open. The ground stretched apart, forming a chasm too wide for her to leap across. A flaming chariot led by four black horses burst from the chasm and barreled straight for her. The shadowy figure of a man held on to the reins of the horses.

Alissa stepped backwards to avoid the rushing chariot and stumbled. Her head hit the ground hard and everything went black.

 **xxx**

When Alissa awoke, it was in a room that she didn't recognize. She sat up in the bed that she was laying in with a start. The walls of the room were a deep blue color and seemed to stretch upwards forever before reaching the ceiling. A single black, iron chandelier hung from the high point of the ceiling and held several flickering candles. The bed that she was laying in was King sized with a dark colored wooden canopy. Dark blue, silky fabric hung from the canopy, surrounding the bed in a curtain of fabric. The duvet that she had been covered with was thick and the same color as the curtains hanging from the canopy.

Cautiously, Alissa reached out and pulled open the curtains. A nightstand stood next to the bed and housed an intricate, iron candelabra with two pairs of lit candles. Next to the candelabra, there was a platter stacked with fruits, cheese, bread and a large bowl of pomegranate seeds. A full glass of what Alissa assumed was red wine sat beside the platter of food.

"You should eat something."

The deep voice coming from the door had Alissa jumping and turning towards its source. A tall man with sharp features and lean muscles stood in the doorway. His hair was a deep chestnut color and was styled to fall just above his deep blue eyes. His muscled body was wrapped in dark blue robes that billowed as if they were flames and a dark crown sat atop his thick head of hair.

"Who are you?" she asked fearfully.

"You should eat," the man repeated, ignoring her question.

"I'm not eating anything until you tell me who you are. Where am I?"

"The Underworld."

"What? The Underworld? Why-?" she cut herself off when everything finally added up. "You're Seto Kaiba, the King of the Underworld."

"Yes. Now eat. I had the servants bring you some seeds." He turned on his heels with the intention to leave until her voice stopped him.

"No."

"Excuse me?" He turned to face her with a scowl on his face. How _dare_ she defy him.

"I said no. I'm not eating anything. I know what you're trying to do. My mother warned me that eating seeds from the Underworld will condemn you to stay there forever. You're trying to trap me here!"

"You've been asleep for three days. You need to eat." It was obvious that the brunet was barely hanging on to his patience.

"No! I'm not letting you trap me here! When my mother finds out you took me, she'll-."

"I'm not afraid of your mother," he cut her off. "Perhaps you shouldn't have wandered so far from the garden."

"You were watching me?" she asked, horrified. How could she have not sensed someone watching her?

"Yes, I was."

"Why? Why did you bring me here?"

"You're to be my bride."

Her heart seemed to stop. Had she heard him right? "What?"

"You heard me. My subjects need a Queen."

"Let me go! I refuse! I won't be their Queen! I won't!"

"You don't have a choice. Now eat." He turned on his heels without waiting for a response and let the door slam shut behind him.

She sank into the bed as everything started to sink in. The King of the Underworld had kidnapped her to make her his bride. She looked at the platter of food on the nightstand and with an angry roar, she knocked everything to the floor. Like hell she was going to be his bride. She would escape, and once she did, he'd regret ever taking her away.

 **xxx**

Weeks passed, and still, Alissa refused to eat anything. Every day food would be brought to her and every day she would refuse it. She could tell that the King of the Underworld was growing impatient with her, but she wasn't going to give in to him. Alissa watched the King closely as her time in captivity progressed. She watched his behaviors and movements to determine when it would be safe to escape. Her opportunity came almost a month into her captivity. The King was in a meeting with members of his council and the servants were occupied with other duties. She slipped out of the room that she had been in since the day she arrived and looked around cautiously. Once she was sure that no one was around, she slipped down the hallway in the direction that she always saw the King leave. She kept her guard up as she hurried down the hall in search of a way to escape. She turned down one of the halls and ran straight into the chest of one of the guards.

"What do we have here?" the horned demon sneered, taking hold of one of Alissa's wrists and pushing her into the wall. "You aren't trying to escape are you?"

"Let go of me!"

"You're quite the spitfire. Is that why His Majesty decided to take you? I can't say I blame him, you are quite beautiful." The demon reached a hand out to cup the young woman's cheek.

"Don't touch me!" she growled, snapping at the fingers that now held her chin in a firm grip.

"Has he had you yet? He'd be a fool if he hasn't." The demon's other hand grabbed hold of both of her wrists and pinned them to the wall above her head.

"Stop! I said let go mmph-." Her shouts were silenced by a hot mouth coming down on hers. She squirmed against the hands holding her and tried to turn her head away from the harsh kiss but the hand holding her chin trapped her in place.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice Alissa recognized demanded.

The demon sprang back from the trapped girl in fear. Without the hands no longer holding her, she collapsed to her knees, her heart hammering in her chest.

The King of the Underworld stood with two other guards flanking his sides. His eyes were narrowed harshly and his frown caused a shiver to run down both Alissa and the guard's spine.

"Ah, Your Majesty. I caught the prisoner trying to escape-."

"You mean the future Queen?"

"Ah, yes. I was simply trying to stop her from escaping," he defended, making to grab Alissa's wrist. The frightened girl scrambled back out of the demon's reach.

"I know what you were doing and that kind of behavior is considered treason. I won't tolerate such treatment of the future Queen." The King paused to turn towards the guards that had followed him out of the council chambers. "Take him away. I'll deal with him later."

The demon screamed for mercy as the other two guards grabbed him by the arms and dragged him away. Seto watched with a frown until the traitor and the two guards disappeared. Slowly, he knelt down next to the still shaking young woman.

"Are you alright?" he asked, furrowing his brows in concern.

"I think so," she answered after a few seconds of silence. "You saved me."

"Tch, of course I did. I'm not going to let my subjects mistreat the future Queen."

"Thank you."

 **xxx**

Following Alissa's rescue, her relationship with Seto changed. She no longer saw him as the one that stole her from her family, but rather the man who allowed her to escape the prison of her everyday life. She found herself slowly falling in love with the man who finally gave her adventure; and he found himself falling for the woman who challenged and surprised him every day. Soon, the two were married and Alissa finally became the Queen of the Underworld.

However, their happiness was short lived, for not long after the couple was married, they were visited by the King of Gods. Alissa's mother had learned of Hades involvement in her daughter's disappearance and she refused to perform her duties until her daughter was returned. Due to the neglect, the lands have dried up and the humans were dying of starvation. The King of Gods warned the young couple that if Alissa refused to return to her home, her mother would come fetch her herself.

Of course, Alissa refused. The King of Gods left, leaving Alissa fearful for her mother's visit. She didn't want to leave the King that she had come to love so deeply. She never thought that she would have fallen for her kidnapper, but she had, and it made her the happiest she had ever been.

Alissa cried for hours after the King of Gods left and Seto tried to console her, but she couldn't get over the thought of being forced to leave the man she loved. It was late into the night when Seto was sleeping beside her that the idea hit her. _The pomegranate seeds_ , she thought. She reached out and grabbed the uneaten pomegranate from the platter the servants had brought in for dinner. She picked out several seeds and held them in her palm. Without a second thought she tossed them into her mouth and swallowed. _Now I can't leave._

 **xxx**

It was the following day when Alissa's mother arrived. She stormed into the Underworld, destroying everything in her path until she reached the throne room where Seto and Alissa sat.

"You," the woman seethed at the King of the Underworld. "How _dare_ you kidnap my daughter! You'll pay for stealing my daughter! Alissa, come. We're leaving this awful place."

"No, Mother." Her response caused her mother to stop. The older goddess turned to her daughter with a frown.

"What did you say?"

"I said no. I'm not leaving my husband."

"Your husband? This man kidnapped you and forced you into marriage!"

"He didn't force me into anything, Mother! Yes, he kidnapped me, but I agreed to marry him of my own free will!"

"He's tricked you, Alissa!"

"No, he hasn't, Mother. Besides, I can't leave, I ate the seeds."

The declaration shocked both her mother and Seto.

"Alissa? You are the seeds?" Seto asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Don't act innocent!" her mother seethed. "I know what you did! You tricked her into eating the seeds so she'd be forced to stay here!"

"He didn't, Mother. He had nothing to do with me eating the seeds.

"Did you eat the seeds of your own free will?" her mother asked her.

"I did. I love him."

 **xxx**

Even after her daughter's declaration of love, Alissa's mother refused to leave without her daughter. She swore that she would not return to her duties until her daughter was returned to her. The King of Gods, not content to let the Earth wither away and die, offered an ultimatum. For half the year, Alissa would return to the surface to live with her mother. For the other six months of the year, she would live with her husband. One month for each of pomegranate seed she ate.

* * *

 **Whew, that ended up longer than I anticipated. This AU was really fun for me to write. Of course, the transitions were a little rocky and if I ever decided to turn it into a full-length story I'd have to flesh it out a lot more, but for a one shot it was loads of fun. I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll be uploading theme two and three tomorrow. Since I decided to do this theme challenge late last night/early this morning, I'm a day behind. Anyway, thanks for reading. Tell me what you guys thought and I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!**


	2. Owl

**Hey, guys! I hope you guys enjoyed the first theme! I had a little trouble deciding what to do for this theme. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go for something more literal or something sort of abstract. I eventually decided to go a little more abstract with a "night owl" type of theme.**

 **With that said, this prompt takes place after a rescue gone south that results in PTSD and insomnia. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

" _Insomnia is just another_

 _word for chit chat_

 _with the demons_

 _during bedtime."_

 _-Daniel Saint_

 **II.**

 _Seto prided himself on his instincts. He trusted very few people, and rightfully so. After years of people using his loved ones as a way to hurt him, he should have expected a double cross. That's why he should have known something was wrong._

 _Three weeks. That's how long Alissa had been missing. Three weeks and the brunet still hadn't received any ransom demands. He'd exhausted every resource, followed every lead, and practically burnt the city to the ground trying to find her. He hadn't slept, he'd barely eaten; maybe that was why he fell into a trap so easily._

 _He had received a call from an unknown number and picked answered it after only two rings. The woman on the phone told him that she witnessed someone that looked similar to Alissa being led out of a dark colored van and herded her into an abandoned warehouse._

 _If he had thought things through, he would have told Roland and the rest of his security where he was going. If he had thought things through, he would've brought back up. But he didn't think things through. That's why he found himself in the situation he was in now._

 _He stood in front of Alissa and her four kidnappers. Three men and one woman; the woman he assumed had made the call. He stood, solid as stone with the handgun he'd brought along pointed at the man who held a bound Alissa tightly by a chunk of her hair._

 _"Drop the gun, Mr. Kaiba," the man demanded, forcing Alissa's head back further and pressing the knife he held closer to her throat._

 _"Seto, don't give them anything," Alissa groaned out, struggling weakly against the man that held her. It was obvious by the state she was in that her captivity hadn't been a pleasant one. Her face was badly bruised and gaunt. Her lip was split and dried blood was crusted under her nose and on a thin, long cut down the side of her face._

 _Seto growled, tightening his grip on the gun until his knuckles turned white. He was going to kill them for hurting her._

" _Final warning, Mr. Kaiba," the man warned, pressing the blade almost close enough to Alissa's neck to draw blood._

 _Seto growled again. The gun was the only piece of leverage he had against the kidnappers, but he very well couldn't open fire on them with one of them holding Alissa so tightly. He had to think of another way to get both of them out alive. He growled a final time before letting the gun drop and raising his hands in surrender._

" _Huh, very good," the man holding Alissa replied, removing the knife from her throat and slipping it back into its holder on his hip. "Now, let's discuss what you're going to give us in exchange for your girlfriend's safe return to you."_

" _I don't think so." That was the only warning the kidnappers got before Seto dove forward and tackled one of them to the floor, swiftly knocking him unconscious with a hard blow to the head. The other three scrambled backwards in surprise, giving Alissa the distraction she needed. She drove her head backwards into her captor's face and he released her with a pained grunt. Free of his hold, Alissa now had room to use her legs and feet to land a hard kick to his face and send him to the ground in a daze. She focused on the woman while Seto grabbled with the other man. Alissa knocked the woman to the ground with a well-placed knee._

 _It didn't take long for Seto to knock out the other man and he turned to find Alissa holding her own against the other kidnapper despite her hands being bound behind her. Seto's chest swelled with pride and relief. They were really going to make it out of her. Alissa was alive. Alissa was going to be alright-._

 _And then he saw the other kidnapper; the one that Alissa had kicked to the floor, move as if in slow motion, and he cried out a warning but it was too late. The larger man wrenched Alissa off of the other woman, throwing her to the ground, and drove his knife deep into her body._

 _Alissa screamed._

 _Seto's knees almost gave out from under him. Everything was out of focus. His head spun and he could hear his heart beat pounding in his ears. Alissa. He had to get to Alissa._

 _When Seto's vision finally sharpened, Alissa was laying on the ground, motionless, the large knife sticking out of her midsection. Her head had lolled to the side, eyes unfocused, a deep red stain spreading sluggishly around where the knife was lodged in her._

 _Seto snapped. He lunged at the assailant with an angry roar and tore him away from Alissa's body, adrenaline coursing through him so powerfully that his vision spotted and her literally saw red, so overwhelmed with fury and instinct that when his mind cleared, he was straddling the badly beaten and motionless body of the man that stabbed Alissa, panting heavily and hands covered in blood._

 _Alissa made a thin sound of pain, and Seto started, the angry haze clearing from his mind. He grabbed his gun from where he had dropped it and ran to her. Alissa blinked sluggishly when Seto reached her side. And made another soft, pained noise when Seto tried to move her. He could only manage to get her head into his lap._

" _Seto," she croaked, looking blearily up at him. "Hey."_

" _Alissa," Seto replied, helplessly. "You're going to be okay-I-."_

" _It doesn't even hurt much anymore," she mumbled._

" _Stay with me, Alissa. Stay with me. You're going to be okay."_

" _You're an awful liar, Seto."_

" _No," he snapped. "Don't say that. I'm not lying, you'll be fine. I'll get you out of here and take you to the hospital. You're going to be fine-."_

" _It's okay, Seto," she said, words slurring. To Seto's horror, a thin trickle of blood started to spill from her lips. "I love you."_

" _I know," he whispered, holding her face with shaking hands._

 _She released a small breath and then went limp, eyes sliding shut and head lolling to the side._

" _No, no, no," he pleaded, shaking her. "Alissa, no, wake up, open your eyes-."_

 _But Alissa didn't move, eyes shut and blood drying on her chin. Seto frantically pressed his fingers to the side of her neck, feeling for a pulse. Nothing. She was gone. She was dead because of him_

 **xxx**

Seto bolted up in bed, his heart hammering in his chest. He immediately turned his head to the other side of the bed and sighed in relief when he saw Alissa sleeping soundly beside him. He ran a hand through his sweat dampened hair and lowered himself back down onto the bed as his breathing returned to normal. _Snap out of it, Seto_ , the brunet scolded himself. _It was just a nightmare._ But it wasn't just a nightmare. It was a memory. A painful memory from the week before when he thought that Alissa had died in his arms. Sure, she was fine now, but a week ago she wasn't. A week ago, she lost almost too much blood. A week ago, she went into hypovolemic shock due to blood loss. A week ago, her heart stopped.

He shook these thoughts from his head and turned on his side to face her. He reached out to lightly touch her cheek, almost afraid that she'd disappear as soon as he did. He let his hand fall off of her cheek and move to clasp her hand, almost afraid to let her go. She stirred but didn't wake.

He sat up again, his hands still shaking, and climbed out of the bed. He had to distract himself. He had to find a way to get rid of the images of Alissa dead in his arms that were trapped in his head.

He silently slipped on his robe and slippers and slipped out of their bedroom in the direction of his home office. Maybe tonight would be different. Maybe getting some work done would actually clear the horrifying images from him head.

He powered up his computer and logged on as soon as he reached his office. He held his head in his hands as the image of Alissa getting stabbed flashed through his mind again. _Seto, stop. Alissa is fine. Get a hold of yourself!_

"What's going on with you?" Alissa asked from the doorway, causing the brunet to look up in surprise. He hadn't heard her enter.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, turning his gaze to his laptop as a distraction.

"You haven't been sleeping. Every time I wake up in the middle of the night you're either in your office or in the pool." She entered his office fully and leaned against the bookshelf by the door with her arms crossed.

"KaibaCorp has several projects coming up."

"And you can't work on those projects during the day time?"

"I always work better at night. You know that."

"Seto, I know you've always been a night owl, but this is getting a little ridiculous. You have to sleep."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

The brunet stayed silent, prompting her to cross to his desk and stand beside his chair with a look of concern on her face.

"Seto, please talk to me. Please don't shut me out."

"You keep dying," he finally whispered after several seconds of silence. "You keep dying and it's my fault."

His response startled her. She reached for him but he shied away.

"Seto, that wasn't your fault-."

"Every time I close my eyes I see it, Alissa. I keep seeing you die with me unable to stop it."

"Seto, it's okay. I'm fine."

"Your heart stopped, Alissa You went into shock when they were operating and your heart stopped."

"I know, Seto. But I'm fine now."

"You were dead for almost a minute."

She gave him a sympathetic look before grabbing his wrist and placing his hand against her chest. "Do you feel that?" she asked.

He could feel her heart beating steadily against his hand and he nodded.

"Does that sound dead to you?" She released her hold on his wrist to cup his face in both hands. "I know you were scared, Seto. I know my heart stopped. I know I died, but I'm fine now. I'm here. I'm alive, and I'm not planning on leaving you anytime soon."

Without another word, he pulled her into a tight embrace and settled his face into the junction of her shoulder and neck. She held him close and let her hands comb through his hair soothingly. Everything was okay now. They were going to be okay.

* * *

 **Well…that one ended up a lot longer than I planned. Anyway, this was fun to write. I've always wanted to write something in which Alissa died/ her heart stopped but she was resuscitated. Some could argue that Seto was a bit OOC in this chapter but at the same time I feel like his behavior kind of makes sense considering what happened.**

 **Also, I planned on getting the third theme up today but since this one ended up being a longer one as well, I'm going to have to hold off until tomorrow. I know, I know, not even four days in and I'm already behind. That's what I get for deciding to do an October theme challenge when it's already two days into October. BUT, I WILL update BOTH theme three AND four tomorrow (or I guess technically later today since I'm getting this up at like one o'clock in the morning). I already have both themes planned and they'll be SO much easier to write because they're fluff. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know what you guys think and I'll talk to you all again tomorrow!**


	3. Jack-O-Lanterns

**Hey, guys! Since the last two themes have been kind of on the heavier side, I wanted to make this next theme light hearted and fun. So, what better way to do that then make this prompt about Seto, Alissa, and their children?**

 **This prompt takes place when Seto and Alissa's daughter Lily is six and their son Ben is three. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _A smile is an inexpensive way to change_

 _your looks."_

 _-Charles Gordy_

 **III.**

"What the hell?" Alissa muttered, stepping over a smashed bowl. She had just finished up a long day at the recording studio only to come home to the house a mess. She looked at the splotches of pumpkin guts on the wallpaper and rolled her eyes with a sigh, then called out, "Seto?"

Seto poked his head out of the living room, eyes wild, hair mussed, and pumpkin on his face. "Shh! You'll wake them!"

"Uh, okay," Alissa replied with a nod as she stepped over the pumpkin guts that littered the floor. "Where are they sleeping?"

"In the living room," he replied, casting a quick glance over his shoulder.

"You do know that if I don't wake them now then they're going to be up all night tonight, right?"

"I _just_ got them to sleep," Seto groaned, his hand spasmed on the wall he was clutching.

"I know you did," she said soothingly, cupping the brunet's cheeks and giving him a quick peck on the lips. "But if we want to sleep tonight we need to wake them up." She leaned back, running her thumbs over the brunet's cheekbones, and snorted.

"There's pumpkin all over you," she laughed, taking in the pumpkin splotched on the CEO's face, arms, and clothes.

"It was going so well until the end. We finished the pumpkins and we were cleaning up but then Ben spilt pumpkin guts on Lily and the next minute they were chasing each other around the house throwing the guts at each other."

Alissa watched as one of the maids scurried by wielding a bucket of water, a broom, and a dustpan.

"I'm guessing you got stuck in the crossfire?"

"They move so fast."

"I know. The little boogers lure you into a false sense of security and then rip the rug out from under you." She paused to kiss him again before continuing. "Why don't you go get cleaned up. I'll take care of the kids for a while."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of my own kids," he replied, offended.

"Of course. I know you are, but you deserve a nice bath after taking care of the little runts for the whole day. You always let me take a long bath after a day taking care of the kids, you deserve one too. You can get the bubbles and the jets going, and maybe later after I get them to bed we can cuddle a little."

"Hn, that sounds acceptable."

"Good, now go on, I'll get the kids ready for dinner," she replied, pushing the brunet towards the stairs. She watched him wander up them and pause at the top to give her a tired smile before disappearing into their bedroom.

She moved into the living room and knelt beside Lily first, giving her shoulder a gentle shake. "Come on, Lily, it's time to get up. Nap time is over."

"Nn, but Momma, we just got to sleep," the six-year-old whined, cracking open her eyes with a pout.

"And whose fault is that?" Alissa retorted. "You two were giving your dad a hard time again. What did I say about fighting with your brother when your dad watches you?"

"But, Momma, Ben started it! He got pumpkin guts all over my dress!"

"I don't care who started it." Alissa turned to the other end of the couch and rubbed Ben's back soothingly. The three-year-old grunted and squinted up at her.

"Hey, Sweetie. It's almost time for dinner." She picked him up and stood, frowning. "Now, I want both of you to apologize to your dad for fighting and making a mess when he gets downstairs. He takes time off work specifically so he can spend time with you guys. His job is stressful enough without having to deal with you two fighting."

Lily looked at the ground guiltily before yelling, "but Ben spilled guts on me!"

"Ben, is that true?" Alissa asked, looking at the boy in her arms.

"It was an accident. I said sowwy," the boy defended.

"Lily, your brother apologized to you. Now say sorry to him and hug it out so we can eat dinner." She placed her son on the floor and nudged him in the direction of his older sister.

"I'm sorry, Ben," Lily replied apologetically, wrapping her brother in a bear hug.

"It's okay. I'm sowwy for the times I thwew the guts on puwpose."

"Thank you both for apologizing to each other," Alissa replied, kneeling down to hug both children. "Now go on into the kitchen and get your hands washed for dinner.

"Come on, Ben! I'll race ya!" Lily called cheerily as she raced off to the kitchen.

"Okay!" Ben called, racing after her.

Alissa smiled and stood. She righted the few chairs that had been knocked over during the chaos before entering the kitchen. The two children both sat at their places at the table, letting their legs dangle from their chairs.

"Momma, where's Daddy?" Lily asked. "We're hungry."

"He'll be down soon, Sweetie."

No sooner did she say that did the brunet enter the kitchen, his face and clothes clean of pumpkin and his hair still damp from the shower.

"Daddy!" Lily exclaimed excitedly, scrambling off her chair to reach her dad with Ben at her heels.

Seto smiled warmly and kneeled down as both children barreled into his chest for a hug.

"We're sorry for fighting, Daddy," Lily apologized.

"Sowwy," Ben said quietly.

"Hey, it's okay," he replied soothingly, kissing each kid on the head. He rose fully, placing a calm hand on both of the children's backs. "Did you guys show Mommy your pumpkins yet?"

"We almost forgot! Come on, Ben!" Lily exclaimed, grabbing on to her little brother's hand and running to the window. She handed her brother the smaller pumpkin on the windowsill before grabbing her own and bringing it over to her mom to look at.

"Okay, let me see them," Alissa replied, sitting in her spot at the kitchen table with a smile.

"It's a dwagon!" Ben proclaimed proudly, sticking his pumpkin in front of his mother.

"Oh, wow, Ben! That looks great!" She praised, looking at the small carving of the dragon. "Did you do that all by yourself?"

"Daddy helped me."

"It looks great, Ben!'

"Thanks, Mommy." She kissed Ben on the cheek before turning her attention to her daughter. "Alright, let me see yours, Lily."

"It's you and Daddy," Lily replied, handing Alissa the pumpkin to see.

Alissa smiled happily at the stick figured image of her and Seto holding hands.

"It looks beautiful, Lily. You both made a perfect pumpkin."

"Thanks, Momma," both kids said, beaming.

Seto watched his wife and kids interact and smiled. Yeah, he had the perfect little family. And he loved it.

* * *

 **Domestic Seto and Alissa is probably in the top five of my favorite things to right. Seriously, Dad Seto is my favorite. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fluff. The fourth theme will be up later tonight. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Sweet Tooth

**Did somebody say vampire AU? Let's be real, Seto would totally be a vampire, I actually have a vampire AU story already in the works so I couldn't resist writing a prompt about vampire Seto. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _No man knows till he has suffered_

 _from the night how sweet and how_

 _dear to his heart and eye the_

 _morning can be."_

 _-Bram Stoker_

 **IV.**

"What does blood taste like?" Alissa asked suddenly, her face still pressed into the crook of Seto's neck.

"What?" Seto asked, staring at Alissa through the darkness.

"Ah, sorry, that was probably a weird question," she replied awkwardly, sitting up in her bed to run a hand through her disheveled hair.

"It was a very odd question," he replied tonelessly.

"I'm just curious," she continued, unfazed. "I mean to us-to humans, it tastes like metal, but to you guys it has to taste different, right? Why else would you drink it?"

"You are aware that we need to drink it to survive?"

"But is that the only reason vampires drink it?"

"Yes." He paused. "The good ones anyway. The bad ones, they don't just drink the blood, they drain it. They drain it for the thrill."

"Okay," she drawled out, unfazed. "But that still doesn't answer my question."

"Blood doesn't have a universal taste," he finally replied after a lengthy pause. "Animal blood is rich, buttery. Human blood is different. Every person's blood tastes different-."

"What does my blood taste like?"

"Sweet. Like sugar," he answered awkwardly.

"Really? Huh, maybe it's all the candy I eat."

"Yes, it's possible. You do have quite the sweet tooth. It's a wonder you still have your figure and your teeth."

She snorted in amusement and laid back down, reassuming the positon she was laying in before. "You should bite me."

"I went hunting last night. I don't need to feed."

"I'm not talking about feeding."

His answer was immediate. "No."

"Oh, come on, Seto-!"

"I'm not going to turn you."

Alissa huffed with a roll of her eyes and replied, "yeah, I know. You say that every time I bring it up."

"Yet you continue to bring it up as if it's up for discussion."

"Why can't it be?"

"You do realize that you'd have to die in order for me to turn you, right?"

"Yeah, I know, you mentioned that last time I brought it up."

"Then you understand why I'm refusing."

"No, honestly. Not really. It's not like I'd die for good, if you turned me I'd-."

"There's no guarantee it would work. So much could go wrong. You could bleed out before I start to turn you, you could reject my blood and go into shock. I'm not risking it, Alissa."

"Whatever, Seto," she snapped, rolling over so her back was to the brunet vampire.

"You're going to sulk now?"

"Yes, I'm going to sulk! You're pissing me off!" she yelled, sitting up again to glare at him. "Why is it so bad that I want to be one of you? I'm going to die someday, Seto. A long time before you do! If you turn me then we wouldn't have to worry about that! Why is it so wrong for me to want to change so I can try to have a life with you?"

"This isn't the kind of life you want, Alissa."

"Maybe you should let me be the judge of that-."

"You have to watch loved ones die as you outlive them; it's a lonely existence, Alissa."

"I wouldn't be lonely. I'd have you."

"And what would happen if one day I was hunted down and killed?"

"I-I don't know-."

"Your mortality is a gift, Alissa. Don't take it for granted."

* * *

 **So…this was supposed to be fluff…but it turned out to be serious…oops. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed! Also, the ending was abrupt as hell…oops. Sorry about that, but that was where it made the most sense for me to end it. Maybe once I have more of the AU planned out I'll add more to this. Anyway, let me know what you guys thought and I'll talk to you guys again tomorrow when I upload theme five.**


	5. Prankster

**Hey, guys! I flip flopped between a couple ideas SO many times for this theme. Then my lovely friend, AbyssalDreamer18 helped me brainstorm and offered up an awesome idea!**

 **So, in this theme, Joey pranked Seto so in response, Seto recruits Alissa to get revenge. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _I hear he's a prankster. He's_

 _that quiet guy that_

 _you have to look_

 _out for."_

 _-Butch Wynegar_

 **V.**

 _Wheeler will pay_ , Seto thought angrily as he paced around his office. _That mutt is going to wish he never pulled a prank on me!_

The morning had started off perfectly ordinary. He awoke at his usual time and as per routine, once he had finished getting himself ready, he strode downstairs to join Alissa and his brother for breakfast. They were enjoying their breakfast when one of the maids burst into the room, declaring that one of KaibaCorp's "stockbrokers" was on the phone with an emergency. On the phone, the "stockbroker" explained that KC stock had plummeted nearly forty percent in the twenty minutes that the floor had been opening.

" _Everyone is trying to sell, sir. No one is trying to buy,"_ the man had said.

Seto rushed down to KaibaCorp only to find out that the stocks were fine; more than fine. In fact, they were up nearly half as much as the previous day and the day had only just started. He had been deceived and he wasn't happy about it. Shortly after the discovery, Seto's phone rang with a call from Joey, admitting that he was the mastermind behind the deception with loud guffaw.

That was the event that lead up to where Seto was now, pacing his office, trying to think of the best way to get back at the blond. _You want to prank me, Wheeler? Well, two can play at that game._

 **xxx**

"Seto, do I really have to do this?" Alissa asked as she watched the brunet's fingers dance across his keyboard.

"I can't be the one to set everything up in Wheeler's apartment," he replied tonelessly as he continued to type. "He's not likely to suspect you."

"Yeah, I know. But he's not going to be happy."

"Tch, neither was I when he pulled that little stunt. He has it coming."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She nibbled on her bottom lip nervously. "It isn't going to hurt him, right?"

"Tch of course not. I told you that already." He was about to tell her to stop being stupid but he caught himself. If he wanted her help, he probably didn't want to piss her off too much.

"Is Wheeler more afraid of snakes or spiders?" he asked, briefly pausing in his coding to direct his question to Alissa.

"Uh snakes I think," she answered. She picked up one of the miniature holographic-imager on Seto's desk and inspected it closely. "So, what exactly is it you need me to do again?"

"Once I'm done loading the images onto the holographic imagers, I'll need you to hide them throughout Wheeler's apartment. From my laptop, I'll be able to time them all to go off around midnight."

"So, you want me to hide these little things around his apartment so you can scare him with holograms in the middle of the night?"

"Precisely." He leaned forward, steepled his fingers, and smirked. Alissa chose to ignore how creepy his smirk was.

"Okay, I'll do it. But only because I'm tired of hearing him brag about how good he got you last week with his prank. And if he asks, I did not condone this."

"Of course."

 **xxx**

Later that night, Alissa woke up to the sound of her cell phone going off. She groggily rolled over and snatched it off the nightstand before punching in her passcode.

 **New Message from Joey Wheeler.** She clicked it open. **"Tell your boyfriend this means war."**

* * *

 **Well, I got this theme up late…and it's super short…oops. Sorry about that. My day was PACKED so I didn't get a chance to sit down and write this until a couple hours ago. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. Next theme will be up tomorrow (technically today I guess since it's past midnight). Talk to you guys soon!**


	6. Costumes

**Hey, guys! I hope you guys have been enjoying the themes so far. I've had tons of fun writing them.**

 **In this theme, Seto thinks Halloween costumes are stupid and unnecessary. Alissa has to convince him otherwise.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

" _Clothes make a statement._

 _Costumes tell a story."_

 _-Mason Cooley_

 **VI.**

"Come on, Seto," Alissa whined, leaning on Seto's desk to get his attention.

"No," Seto replied, without a beat.

"But it's a _costume_ party."

"I'm perfectly aware of that. I did read the invitation."

"Then you'll remember that it says costume _required_. You can't show up without a costume!"

The sudden increase in the volume of her voice made him pause in his work with irritation "I can and I will."

"But a Halloween costume is the dress code. Not showing up in costume would be like showing up to one of your black-tie events in a bathing suit."

"Tch, it's a costume party at Wheeler's apartment. It's nothing like my black-tie events."

"Why can't you just wear a costume? What's the big deal?"

"It's stupid."

"It isn't stupid. Wearing costumes is _supposed_ to be fun."

"It isn't _supposed_ to be fun. People didn't start wearing stupid costumes for _fun_ , they did it to scare off evil spirits, which is also stupid."

"That's an old tradition. It's different now. Now, people do it for _fun_."

"Explain to me why dressing up like some idiot is fun."

"Okay, you don't have to be an ass about it."

Seto clenched his fists in irritation. Her persistence was really starting to get on his nerves. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted was for this disagreement to turn in to a bigger fight.

Suddenly, an idea finally formed in his head and he had to do his best to hide a smirk. He knew how to shut her up _and_ get out of wearing a costume. He let his mask of indifference fall into place and asked in an irritated tone, "if I wear a costume will it shut you up?"

She perked up immediately. "Yes." Alissa tried to hide the excitement she felt for _finally_ convincing him. _Ha, she thinks she's won_ , he thought triumphantly.

"Fine," he snapped in fake resignation. "I'll have one of the maids pick up what I need in town."

"Thanks, Seto. I know you're not usually into celebrations but I really think you'll have fun if you just give it a try."

"Whatever. Get out of my office so I can finish up the work you interrupted."

"Okay, okay, I'll go. But I want to know what you're dressing up as before I go."

"It's a surprise."

 **xxx**

"Seto, are you almost ready?" Alissa called from downstairs as she adjusted the straps of the leg guards to her Wonder Woman costume.

"The party doesn't start for another thirty minutes," the CEO called down tonelessly.

"We have to stop and pick up the pizza on the way. Hurry up, we're going to be late!"

"Tch, whatever."

She heard a little bit more shuffling and then their bedroom door closing. He appeared at the top of the stairs a couple moments later, wearing his usual attire with a white, long sleeved, high neck shirt.

Alissa fumed as he descended the stairs with a triumphant smirk. "You ass."

Written on the white shirt in Seto's neat handwriting with a sharpie were the word **Error 404: Costume Not Found.** Seto couldn't help but smirk at the way her eye twitched.

"You're right," he said, his smirk growing. "This is fun."

* * *

 **Another super short theme…oops. I didn't get home until almost eight o' clock tonight so I started this chapter WAY later than I wanted to. Oh well, it was still fun to write. I hope you guys enjoyed. Tomorrow's theme will be up probably just as late because I have things going on all day. I** _ **might**_ **be able to get it up earlier if I'm able to finish everything early, but I'm not counting on it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll talk to you again tomorrow evening!**


	7. Scarecrow

**Hey, guys. So, this theme is up way, way, WAY late and I apologize for that. I'd originally planned to get this up yesterday evening but I didn't end up getting home until ten and I was so exhausted from the day that I sort of just passed out. Sorry for those who may have been waiting.**

 **Anyway, since the last couple themes have been on the lighter side, I decided to make this one a little scarier. It is the month of October after all.**

 **With that said, in this theme, Seto and Alissa buy a vacation home in the country. They find an old scarecrow in the attic and this scarecrow isn't normal.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

" _The scarecrow walks at midnight."_

 _-R.L. Stine_

 **VII.**

"Jeez, the people who lived here before us must have left in a hurry," Alissa replied as she scanned the stuffed attic. "You don't think they wanted any of this stuff, do you?"  
"Tch, if they wanted it they wouldn't have left it," Seto replied tonelessly as he aired open the garbage bag in his hands. "Let's just get this dump cleaned out like we planned. You know how I feel about dust. And it smells foul in here." He moved to the right side of the attic and began shoving things into the large bag.

"Okay, okay. It's probably just because it's an old house. Once we get rid of all this stuff it should get rid of the moldy smell." She aired open the other garbage bag and moved to the other side to start tossing things out. She had stuffed the garbage bag about half way when she reached a long, wooden crate. _Whoa, what the hell is in there?_ She set the garbage bag down and heaved open the crate.

"Whoa! Hey, Seto! Come look at this thing!" she called over her shoulder.

"Tch, everything in this attic is a piece of junk, what could you have possibly found that requires my attention," the brunet huffed as he approached her.

"Look at this thing," Alissa repeated, carefully pulling the object out.

It was a scarecrow. A rather scary looking one, made with a weird textured material and an unevenly stitched mouth. It was missing one of its button eyes and wore a baggy pair of overalls.

"Maybe we should keep it," she replied, handing it to the brunet to examine closer.

"Tch, why would we keep this? It's a piece of junk. It's obviously poorly made; the material feels like skin."

"That kind of makes it scarier though doesn't it?"

"We aren't keeping that in this house. Who knows what kind vermin have made their home in it."

"I wasn't saying that we'd keep it inside the house. I just think it would be a cool decoration to have outside. It is almost Halloween."

"I'm aware of the date."

"Well, you don't want our nice, new vacation home to get egged by a bunch of brats because we have no decorations up, do you?"

"Tch, fine. But we're getting rid of it after this year. I don't want that stupid thing stinking up the attic."

"Fine."

 **xxx**

A loud crash from downstairs woke the couple later that night. They were wide awake in an instant.

"What the hell was that?" Alissa asked.

"I don't know," Seto replied, reaching into the nightstand drawer to pull out his hand gun. He stood and looked over his shoulder to toss a warning to his girlfriend in bed. "Stay here."

"Oh, no, I'm coming with you," she argued, reaching under the bed to grab the baseball bat they kept there.

"Fine," he sassed, knowing it was useless to try and talk her out of it. "Stay behind me."

She nodded before climbing out of bed and falling in behind her boyfriend with the bat at the ready. The couple walked silently and cautiously down the stairs, both on high alert. When they reached the foot of the stairs, they could see the light coming from the kitchen.

"Uh, you turned the light off when you came up, didn't you?" Alissa whispered.

"Obviously, I'm not an idiot," he whispered back before repeating his earlier warning. "Stay behind me."

She nodded her understanding and held on tightly to his upper arm as the two slowly approached the kitchen. What they saw made Seto frown in irritation and Alissa recoil in fear.

"What the hell?" Alissa exclaimed.

Sitting in the kitchen chair, was the scarecrow.

"Okay, maybe you're right. Maybe we should throw it out," Alissa replied, her voice quivering slightly.

"But what about the brats egging our house?" Seto asked, teasingly. "Are you afraid of it?"

"We found it in a sealed crate. It was put in there for a reason."

"Yeah, because it's ugly."

"Shh! Stop saying stuff like that, you'll make it mad!"

"Make it mad? Tell me you don't actually think that thing is alive."

"Well, you didn't put it in here and I definitely didn't so who did?"

"Tch, it's obviously a poorly planned prank."

"I've seen enough scary movies to know that finding a thing that shouldn't be alive in your kitchen in the middle of the night when it wasn't left there is a huge red flag that the thing that isn't supposed to be alive is actually alive."

"Don't be stupid. The stupid brats in the neighborhood obviously broke in and put it there as a stupid prank."

"I am _not_ being stupid!" she defended.

"Alissa, it's a scarecrow. It isn't alive. It's a stupid prank and I'll bring it up with the authorities in the morning so it doesn't happen again. Now go on back to bed. I'll put it back out front."

She nodded slowly, swallowing around the lump of fear sitting deep in her throat. _He's right_ , she reasoned. _We're in a new place, it's probably just the nervousness of buying a new house. Scarecrows don't come alive_. But as the brunet headed to the front yard with the scarecrow, Alissa could have sworn she saw it smirk.

* * *

 **So, that's it for this theme. I know it doesn't seem like much happened but I do plan on doing a continuation of this theme in one of the later themes, so this is merely part one. Sorry again for getting this up a day late! I hope it was worth the wait. I'll be uploading theme eight later today as well so I'm caught up. Part of the promise I made myself before starting this October theme challenge was that I wasn't going to let myself get any more than a theme behind. I intend to fulfill that promise as best as I can. Anyway, enough of my rambling. I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll talk to you all again later today when I upload theme seven. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Broomstick

**Hey, guys! Here's theme eight as promised! I had an idea for a modern Witch AU so that's what I decided to roll with.**

 **In this prompt, Alissa is the witch. I originally was going to have Seto be the witch; or warlock rather, but Seto is such a man of science so it didn't feel right making him the one with magic. This theme will probably end up having a second part like the previous theme.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

" _Double, double toil and trouble;_

 _fire burn, and cauldron bubble."_

 _-William Shakespeare_

 **VIII.**

Seto came to with a groan and a fuzzy head. He eyes slowly opened then went wide in alarm. This wasn't his bedroom. He bolted upright then hissed when a sharp pain shot through his side.

"Easy does it," a female voice warned from the doorway. "You'll hurt yourself."

His gaze immediately moved to the source of the voice and hardened. A tall girl with curly, black hair leaned against the doorway with a small smile.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "And why have you kidnapped me? Do you have any idea who I am?"

"I'm Alissa. And I didn't kidnap you, Seto Kaiba, don't flatter yourself," she responded without missing a beat. "I brought you here after you were mugged. You clearly don't remember that, which makes me think I should've checked you for a concussion like I had originally planned."

Wait, mugged? Now he remembered. He had been walking home from KaibaCorp when he found himself surrounded by several thugs. Normally he would have been able to handle himself, but it really wasn't a fair. Fourteen to one was hardly a fair fight. The last thing he remembered was a loud crash, a sharp pain in his side, and then everything went black. _I was_ stabbed, he thought. He curiously moved his hand to where he expected to find a wound and was surprised to find only a fading pink scar.

"What the hell? What is this?" he demanded.

"It's a scar," she answered flatly.

"Tch, I'm not stupid. I'm aware it's a scar. I'm asking what the hell you did to me! I was just stabbed, this shouldn't be a scar!"

"It's because I healed you. You're welcome by the way. You probably would've died of blood loss."

"Healed me?"

"Yeah, I whipped up this healing potion and-."

"Oh, you're one of those," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Excuse me? What exactly is that supposed to mean?" she asked, crossing her arms indigently.

"You're a witch."

"Yeah, I am. What of it?"

"Tch, magic isn't real."

"Uh huh, then what saved your life? Science?" she asked in a mocking voice.

"Science is a _real_ practice. Your stupid little potion making and wand waving isn't."

"Okay, firstly, that's very offensive. Not all witches use wands. And secondly, if my potion making isn't real then give me another explanation for how your injury healed almost completely in," she paused to glance out the door to see the clock mounted on the wall. "Five hours."

"Tch, whatever."

"Now are you going to let me put some more potion on your injury so it doesn't scar or are you going to ask if I ride a broom next?"

"Do you?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Of course not. That's stupid." She exited the room and called, "don't move. I'll be back in a second to give you another does of the potion."

"I'm not taking anything you give me," he called back, finally taking in his surroundings now that she had left. The bed he was sitting on was small, but comfortable, dressed in dark blue sheets and a black comforter. A small bedside table stacked with several books with weird markings on the covers sat to the left of the bed. A small desk, also overflowing with books, sat in the far corner of the room on the same wall of the door.

"It's not something you take," Alissa replied, reentering the room and pulling Seto's attention back to her. She held a small container in her hands and replied, "it's a cream."

"I don't need your stupid 'healing cream' I can have my doctors look at it and take care of it with _science_."

"Mhm, yeah. Well, if you want it to stay scarred, then by all means, science away. Good thing I did the work for them."

"Stay scarred? What do you mean?"

"I figured you wouldn't want to be left with a scar so I whipped something up that would heal your injury _and_ fade the scar after only a few uses. But, since you rather use science, I'll just get rid of this-."

"Just give me the stupid cream," he interrupted, holding out his hand expectantly.

She smiled in triumph, approaching the bed and dropping the container into his waiting hand and replying, "you only need a little bit of it. A little goes a long way."

"Whatever. Leave so I can apply it in peace and get out of here."

"Okay, okay, I'll leave you alone," she replied, holding up her hands in surrender. She exited the room, this time, closing the door behind her.

 _This stupid stuff can't actually be real_ , he thought as he opened the container and sniffed at its contents. The smell wasn't awful. He took a small amount in his fingers, lifted up his shirt, and rubbed the cream on to the pink scar. To his utter shock, the scar pulsed, before fading into an even lighter color. _There's no way this is real_ , he denied. He examined the cream closely with a frown. _I need to take this to the lab. There's no such thing as magic. This is all some scam, some trick to get my company. Something is going on here and I'm going to figure out what it is._

* * *

 **That's our Seto, in denial until the very end. Anyway, as I said, I plan on making a second part to this theme as well. The reason I'm doing that is because what I had planned for the second half of this theme would work a lot better with a different theme rather than this one. So, part two for this will be up within the month. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow (or later today) when I upload theme number nine!**


	9. Fog

**Hey, guys! So, this is another short theme but I didn't want to drag it out longer than it needed to be. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

" _Sometimes we need the fog_

 _to remind ourselves that all of life_

 _is not black and white."_

 _-Jonathan Lockwood Huie_

 **IX.**

Seto _hated_ fog, that much was clear to Alissa. She could see the signs any time a fog settled over the city of Domino. The brunet would become more detached; quieter. He would bundle up more than usual when he left the mansion for work, and as soon as he came home he would change back into pajamas and then spend hours in the longue, staring at the crackling fire that always seemed to be burning that time of year. He _refused_ to even look out the window and would clench his fists until his knuckles turned white. She never asked Seto about it. She knew it was useless, he wouldn't tell her and it would likely lead to him shutting himself off more than he already was.

"So, why does your brother hate foggy weather so much?" Alissa asked Mokuba one evening when Seto was working late.

"I think it's because of Dad. He died driving home from the pharmacy. He'd gone to get Seto flu medicine. The fog was too thick and he crashed. I don't really remember it, I was too little at the time. But that was the beginning of all our troubles."

"I'm sorry, Little Kaiba." She wrapped the younger Kaiba in a hug and held him close.

"It's okay, Alissa," he replied, wrapping his arms around her in return. "I don't really remember my dad much. I was only five when he died but Seto, I don't know, he always gets a little low when there's fog."

She hugged him tighter and buried her face into his hair. "Thanks for telling me, Mokuba."

"You're welcome."

 **xxx**

"Seto, come to bed," Alissa replied, holding out her hand in an attempt to usher said brunet to bed.

"It's not even eight o' clock," he replied, dryly.

"So? Come on, come to bed."

"I have work to finish."

"Uh huh, right. We both know that you're just going to stare moodily at the firepla-."

"I am not _moody_."

Instead of responding, she propped herself up on her knees, grabbed onto his wrist, and pulled him onto the bed. As soon as he collided with the mattress, she threw the comforter over both of them and latched onto him tightly. He immediately began to struggle in her grip.

"Alissa, let go."

"Nope."

"This is childish, Alissa! Let go!"

"No. You aren't going anywhere. We're going to lay here and cuddle and relax."

He tried to pry her off of him but that only made her hang on even tighter. He released an irritated sigh and stopped struggling.

"If this is your attempt to make me talk about my feelings, you're wasting your time."

"We don't have to talk about your feelings. We can just cuddle." She paused to look him in the eyes. "Unless you want to talk about your feelings. Do you?"

His response was immediate. "No."

"And that's okay. Let's just lay here and relax." She returned her head to its place on his shoulder and shut her eyes contentedly.

Slowly, the brunet began to relax. His frown faded and his arm moved to hug her waist.

"I love you," she replied, after nearly two minutes of silence.

He smirked and rested his forehead against hers. "I know."

* * *

 **Alright, that was theme nine. I know, it was really short. And Seto was probably really OOC. Oops. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. Theme ten will be up tomorrow. Talk to you guys then!**


	10. Resurrect

**Hey, guys! I hope you've been enjoying the prompts so far. They are a blast for me. Anyway, this is the continuation of the Broomstick theme.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

" _While I pondered on this dangerous_

 _but irresistible pastime,_

 _I took a heavenly ride through our silence._

 _I knew the moment had arrived_

 _For killing the past and coming back to life."_

 _-Coming Back to Life, Pink Floyd_

 **X.**

A loud knock pulled Alissa violently from her sleep. She stumbled out of bed and down the hall as the knocks increased in volume and frequency.

"Holy shit! I'm coming!" she yelled to the person outside the door. She pulled the door open with a scowl that disappeared as soon as she saw who was at her front door. "Kaiba?"

The CEO in question stood on her stoop with a frown, drenched from the rain and holding what Alissa assumed was a person cocooned in his arms.

"Kaiba, what-?"

"I need your magic."

She could see that asking for her help was difficult for him. He was a prideful man and asking for help, from a witch no less, wasn't something he seemed to be happy doing.

"What? I thought-."

"Don't make me ask again. My brother is hurt and the nearest hospital is too far away. I came here because I had no choice. If he doesn't get help now he'll _die_!"

Those words flipped a switch in her. She held the door open for him and replied with, "come in, quickly. Take him down the hall." She shut the door once he had entered and fell in behind him.

"Put him on my bed," she ordered.

Seto complied, gently laying the bundle in his arms on the bed. He kneeled down and gently ran a hand through his younger brother's matted hair.

"What happened?" Alissa asked, kneeling beside the bed and peeling the blankets open to get a closer look at Mokuba's injury. Her stomach dropped when she saw the deep stab wound in his stomach.

"What happened?" she repeated.

"That doesn't matter. Help him."

She nodded, choosing to respect his privacy and got to her feet.

"Keep pressure on it," she ordered over her shoulder as she left to gather supplies.

Seto pressed down on the wound, ignoring the shaking of his hands.

"Seto," Mokuba moaned in pain.

"It's okay, Mokuba. I'm getting you help. Just keep your eyes open."

"Hurts," Mokuba groaned, his eyes fluttering weakly.

"No, Mokuba. Stay awake. Mokuba. Mokuba!" The elder brother pressed two fingers to the younger's neck in search of a pulse. He felt stillness and his breath caught.

"Hurry up! He isn't breathing!" he roared, trying to keep himself calm. _This isn't happening. Not again._ He could feel panic bubbling up in his chest. He was going to lose someone _again_. Just like his mom. Just like his dad. Except now, he'd have no one.

Alissa rushed in with her arms full of surprise and he looked up.

"Do something." He meant it to come out as an order but it came out more as a plea.

She knelt beside the inert Kaiba brother and listened for a heartbeat. Nothing.

"Kaiba, I'm sorry, I can't find a heartbeat, I can't-."

"No! You have magic, don't you? I didn't bring him to you for him to die! _Do something!"_

She dug through her brain to think of something she could do. She didn't want to let a child die. No, she _wouldn't_ let a child die. Then an idea struck her. She stumbled over to her desk and pulled out the book that was on the bottom of the stack of books resting there. She knelt in front of the book and quickly flipped through it.

"What are you doing? We don't have time for this! _Mokuba_ doesn't have time for this!"

"I'm looking for a spell that will bring him back."

"A spell? I thought not all witches used wands. You said that you did potions, not spells!"  
"I know I said that!"

"Then how do you propose to save his life with something you don't know how to do!"

"This spell is his only hope! You came here for my help, so let me help!"

The CEO finally fell silent and she used his silence as permission to continue. She took a breath to steady her racing heart. _Okay, Alissa. No time for self-doubt now. Seto is counting on you. Mokuba is counting on you._

Seto watched as Alissa placed both hands on his brother's chest and started chanting something in a language he didn't recognize. _She'll pay for this if she fails._ His eyes widened as her hands began to glow a light blue. The glow slowly increased in size until it had engulfed Mokuba's whole body in the blue light. Then, the light dimmed to nothing and Alissa slowly took her hands away.

"Why isn't he waking up?"

"I don't know. The wound is gone so the spell should've-."

"I thought you said this spell would bring him back!"

"I said it was our only hope, I-."

The two were cut off when Mokuba inhaled sharply and shot up in bed.

"Mokuba," Seto gasped, pulling Mokuba into his chest in relief. "I thought you'd died."

"Ha, you can't get rid of a Kaiba that easily. Besides, we're a team remember?"

Seto held his younger brother close. His brother was okay. He was alive, brought back to life. And it was all because of _magic_.

* * *

 **Well…this theme didn't end up the way I wanted it…oh well. Theme eleven will be up later tonight/early tomorrow morning (like midnight or one AM) once I get home from rehearsal. Talk to you guys then!**


	11. Lantern

**Hey, guys! It took me a little while to figure out what I wanted to do with this prompt. I decided to make a short and sweet prompt about Seto and Alissa's children. In this prompt, the children are a year older than the last prompt they were in. Lily is seven and Ben is four. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

" _If you light a lantern for another,_

 _it will also brighten your own way."_

 _-Nichiren_

 **XI.**

"Momma! Daddy!"

The sound of their children calling them caused both Alissa and Seto to jerk awake.

"I'll check on them," Seto replied, pulling himself out of bed and slipping on his robe.

Alissa reached for the lamp on the bedside table and flipped the switch. She frowned when she was only met with darkness.

"The storm must've knocked the electricity out. I'll go see if Sawa can help me find any candles or something for the kids to use."

"I'll be with the kids." He exited their bedroom and used the flashlight on his phone to find his way down the hall to his son and daughter's room.

"Are you two okay?" Seto asked, entering Lily and Ben's bedroom.

"Daddy, our night light turned off!" Lily exclaimed, running to hug her father's legs.

"Now the monsters will get us!" Ben cried, curling himself into a ball under his comforter.

"You used your monster spray before you went to bed, didn't you?" he asked, scooping up his daughter and eyeing the squirt bottle on their nightstand.

"Yeah, we even sprayed extra 'cause monsters like storms," Lily answered, clutching onto her dad tightly.

"Then you guys have nothing to worry about," the brunet replied comfortingly as he sat at the foot of Ben's bed. "Come here, Kiddo."

Ben scrambled out from under his blanket and crawled into Seto's open arm.

"It's alright," he comforted, holding each child close.

"Where's Momma?" Ben asked, burying his face into his father's shoulder.

"She's looking for candles to use until the power goes back on."

"How long will the lectricity be out?" Ben asked, his voice muffled into the fabric of his dad's robes.

"Electricity, Ben."

"Electricity," the boy repeated, stumbling over the word a little, but pronouncing it correctly nonetheless.

"Good boy," Seto praised, ruffling the boy's hair. "I'm not sure how long the electricity will be out."

"Will it be out all night?" Lily asked, fearfully.

"It might be, Princess. But you're both safe. Monsters won't get you if you sprayed the monster spray."

"But what if we didn't spray enough of it?"

"Do you want me to spray some more?"

"Yes please!" the children answered together.

The brunet put his two kids down and grabbed the spray bottle from the nightstand and started spraying the "monster spray" around the room. He paid special attention to the spot underneath their beds and in their closet.

As soon as he finished, Alissa entered with an arm full of lanterns and announced, "Sawa found a couple lanterns. She set said objects down on one of the dressers and started lighting the wicks inside the lanterns.

"Momma, Daddy, will those be big enough to keep the monsters away?" Ben asked, fearfully.

"Of course," the CEO reassured. "No monsters will want to come anywhere near you two with all the monster spray and light in this room.

"Your father is right. You two will be perfectly safe in here," Alissa agreed, blowing out the matches once she was done. "Now, you two remember the rules with lanterns, right?"

"Yes, Momma. No playing with the fire in the lanterns," Lily answered. Ben nodded in agreement.

Alissa smiled before replying, "good." With the help of her husband, she tucked the two of them into bed and gave each of them a goodnight kiss.

"Sleep tight. If you need anything else, your father and I are just down the hall," Alissa replied from the children's bedroom door.

"Okay, Momma."

"Goodnight, Momma and Daddy."

"Night, Kiddo."

"We love you, Momma and Daddy."

"We love you both too, Princess."

Having said their goodnights, husband and wife left their children's room, climbed back into bed, and fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

 **Well…this theme is up a little late and the ending is probably abrupt, but what else is new. Anyway, Seto is probably a little OOC in this prompt, but my argument is that even though he doesn't believe in monsters and stuff like that, he'll let his kids believe in them because he's a control freak and he wants them to stay little forever so he can take care of them. That's my thought process behind his characterization for this prompt anyway. Well, with that said. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Theme twelve will be up tomorrow so I'll talk to you guys then!**


	12. Fear

**Hey, guys! So, I've had this idea for a theme for a LONG time now, and I finally decided to use it. In this theme, Seto becomes aware of Alissa's fear if spiders.**

* * *

" _There is no illusion_

 _greater than fear."_

 _-Lao Tzu_

 **XII.**

"Oh my holy fuck!" Alissa screamed from her and Seto's bedroom down the hall. There was a loud bang, followed by another scream. "Holy fuck!"

Seto's fingers stilled over the keys of his laptop. _What the hell is she screaming about now?_ His sighed and pinched the bridge of his noise in irritation before continuing to work.

"Setoooo!" she wailed from the other room.

"What is it, Alissa?" he asked, doing nothing to hide the irritation in his voice.

"I need you to come here!"

"I'm working."

"But it's an emergency!"

"Are you being kidnapped?"

"No-."

"Are you dying?"

"No! But-."  
"Then I wouldn't classify whatever your issue is as an emergency."

"Stop being an ass!" Another squeal. "Seto please!"

He rolled his eyes before slamming his laptop shut and exiting his office with an annoyed huff. He stood in the doorway of their bedroom and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What is it?" he asked, eyeing Alissa who stood near the doorway next to him.

"There is a huge fucking spider over by the window!"

He looked at her, blinked slowly, and then turned over his shoulder to exit.

"Wait! Seto, where are you going?"

"To finish my work that you rudely interrupted me from. Don't interrupt me again unless it's important."

"But, Seto! The spider!"

"If it's causing that much of a problem for you then take care of it."

"I can't!"

"Tch, why not? It's only a spider."

"Because I'm _afraid_ of spiders! They're gross, they have eight legs, and multiple sets of eyes and I don't like them!"

"Hn, you're afraid of spiders _and_ heights? What else are you afraid of?" he asked her with a teasing smirk.

"You don't have to be an ass about it!" she exclaimed defensively. "Just please get it before it gets away!"

"Tch, fine," he snapped, finally complying and entering the room. "If it will shut you up so I can work. Where is it?"

"Over by the window," she answered, pointing at the far wall and falling in behind the brunet.

The tall CEO approached the wall and caught sight of the decently sized speck on the wall. He leaned in close to examine the arachnid and frowned.

" _This_ is what has you so afraid? This isn't even one of the larger species we have here."

"What the hell are you doing? Don't get so close to it, it might be able to jump!" she warned, putting a hand on his shoulder to move him back.

He swatted her hand away before continuing his examination.

"It can't jump. It isn't even poisonous."

"I don't care _what_ it is! Just get rid of it!"

He rolled his eyes before holding his hand out and coaxing the spider into his open palm. Alissa recoiled, putting a large amount of distance between her and the CEO.

"Whoa! What the hell are you doing?"

"Getting rid of it. Like you asked."

"I meant kill it! Not pick it up!"

"I'm moving it outside."

"Why? Then it can just come back in!"

"Because my mother didn't kill spiders so neither do I." His comment shocked her in to silence. He very rarely brought up his mother so any time he did, she was surprised.

"Your mom?" she asked.

"She didn't like to kill spiders or insects." He explained, cupping his other hand around the spider so it couldn't crawl out as he opened the window. He coaxed it outside and then closed the window once it was outside before continuing. "She'd always move them back outside. She taught me to do the same thing."

"Thanks for telling me that, Seto," she replied, coming up behind him to hug him around the waist. "I appreciate it." And she really did. She appreciated any time he opened up about his past because she knew it wasn't something he did for everyone. He only did it with the people he trusted. She was grateful that she was one of those few people.

"Tch, don't make a big deal out of it," he grumbled in annoyance, though he did nothing to evade her hug.

"Really, Seto. Thank you."

* * *

 **Wow, I actually got this up at a decent hour. Anyway, this chapter is a lot fluffier than I could have gone with this theme, but I wanted to make this one more lighthearted because the next couple themes will be quite dark. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll talk to you all tomorrow when I upload theme thirteen.**


	13. Coffin

**Hey, guys. So, this theme gets pretty dark. And the ending isn't a happy one. It involves non-descriptive reference to torture and character death; just a warning for those who may find that kind of stuff uncomfortable.**

 **Again, this prompt involves reference to torture and character death, so I suggest you skip this one if those things aren't your cup of tea. Anyway, read on.**

* * *

" _Trapped in the dark,_

 _slammed all the locks,_

 _death calls my name_

 _and it seems I've been buried alive."_

 _Avenged Sevenfold-Buried Alive_

 **XIII.**

Seto released a pained groan when he came to again. When his senses began to return, he found that he was once again weak and in pain. The walls of his cell dipped and swayed and he shut his eyes again to try and soothe his vertigo. When he did, he thought back to how he got to where he was now.

Mokuba had been kidnapped by a group of unknown business rivals. He had tracked them down alone; he hadn't even told Alissa about his rescue plan, fearful of compromising her safety by involving her. He'd freed Mokuba and they were fleeing the site where Mokuba had been kept when Seto was shot down and captured himself. He realized now that Mokuba's abduction was all a set up to lure him there and capture him to get information. He was the one they wanted the whole time, not his younger brother. Of course, he should've expected that. It wasn't unusual for business rivals to use his brother to get to him. But no matter how much they beat him, he wasn't going to give them the codes that they were after. Giving them the account codes would mean the end of KaibaCorp and he wasn't about to give them everything he had fought to achieve.

He groaned in pain when the wound on his leg throbbed again. He looked down at the bullet wound that was carefully bandaged. At least they had taken care of that injury to prevent infection. They were clearly invested in keeping him alive for now, though he wasn't sure how much longer it would stay that way. Each interrogation got more and more violent. If he had to go through another interrogation like the one he had just received prior to waking up, he wouldn't be alive much longer. Not that it mattered. He knew that they'd kill him as soon as they got the information anyway. He'd seen their faces. The only way he'd get out of this alive now was if he somehow escaped, though with his injuries he doubted he'd get very far. _Seto Kaiba, you have to try_ , he thought. _You have Mokuba and Alissa to get home to. Now get up!_

He felt the blood trickle down his face as he struggled to pull himself up without the use of his hands which were bound tightly behind his back. He didn't make it far before a wave of pain washed over him and he collapsed to the ground like a discarded puppet on strings, panting heavily. He wasn't sure how long it had been since his capture; three, maybe four days. He couldn't say for sure, all the days bled together in endless pain.

A shadow fell across his battered form and he looked up, glaring at one of his captors defiantly.

"Ready to talk?" the man asked.

"Fuck off, I'm not telling you anything," the CEO growled.

"You aren't making things easy on yourself, you know. Just tell us what we want to know and we'll let you go."

"Tch, you aren't planning on letting me go. I've seen your faces, I know how this works. I'm no fool."

"Smart Boy," the henchman snorted in amusement. "I'll be back for you in a couple hours. I suggest you think about telling us what we want to know."

"You're wasting your time."

The henchman frowned. That was the only warning Seto got before a steel toed boot came crashing into his stomach. He felt one of his ribs give and he coughed wetly.

The henchman laughed and walked down the hall, his footsteps growing faint until they disappeared completely.

Seto rolled onto his back, struggling to breath. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. They hadn't fed him in all the days he'd been held captive and it was really starting to take its toll on him. His eyelids fluttered and he slowly slipped into an unwilling sleep.

 **xxx**

He was ripped violently from his sleep by two of the henchman gripping him roughly by the arms.

"Come on, the boss wants to see you," the first one ordered, dragging the CEO roughly to his feet, indifferent to the extent of the brunet's injuries.

"You're wasting your time," the CEO replied weakly.

"We'll see," the second one replied.

The CEO found himself being dragged down the hallway and into the same room that he'd been tortured in for the last few days.

"Well, Mr. Kaiba, are you ready to talk?"

"I'm not telling you anything," he growled, swaying on his feet a little. The only thing keeping him from collapsing were the henchmen's tight grip on his upper arms.

"You are quite stubborn, but I'll get what I want," the leader replied before speaking to his henchman. "You know what to do."

Seto struggled to resist them as they dragged him over to the chair in the middle of the room, but his efforts were in vain. In his weakened state, there wasn't much he could do, especially with his arms still bound behind him. He was forced into the chair and rope was once again tied around his torso and his legs, leaving him secured to the chair unable to move.

"Tell me what I want to know," the leader demanded, raising a crowbar.

"Never," Seto snapped.

Seto thought that the beatings had been bad before, but as the newest round of interrogation started, he discovered that this newest round he had experienced yet. The torture he endured was even worse than what he suffered from under Gozaburo, and Gozaburo's beatings were ruthless. But at least Gozaburo never used a crowbar to shatter bone.

Seto fought against the urge to scream out in pain. He didn't want to give the villains the satisfaction, but when he felt a taser dig into his side at the same time the crowbar collided with his gut, he let out a howl of agony.

"Ready to crack, Mr. Kaiba?" the leader smirked, twirling the bloody crowbar in his hand.

"You're wasting your time," Seto barely managed to reply. He could tell by how difficult it was to breathe that the brute had broken a couple of his ribs. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out. His vision was starting to blur and the voices of his captors were starting to fade in and out. A harsh slap had him seeing stars. Blood now dripped freely down the side of his face, He let out a final moan and let his head loll weakly against his chest. He clung on to consciousness, but barely.

"We're wasting our time here," the leader finally said, looking at Seto's limp body thoughtfully.

"But, Boss, what about the money?" one of the henchman asked.

"There are other ways of getting the information we want. Perhaps we were wrong to let his brother escape. He may have the information we need."

Upon the mention of his brother, Seto's head shot up, his eyes instantly alert and focused.

"Don't you dare touch my brother!" he warned. "If you so much as touch a hair on his head I'll make you regret it!"

"I'm afraid your threats hold no power here, Mr. Kaiba," the leader replied with a smirk. "If you don't want to tell us what we want to know, fine. We have other ways of getting what we want. Unfortunately for you, that means you've worn out your usefulness." He paused to turn to his henchmen. "Get rid of him. Once you've finished disposing of him, meet me outside so we can go collect his brother." Without another word, the leader left Seto with the henchmen.

"Stay away from Mokuba!" Seto roared. "If you so much as touch him I'll-mmph!" He was cut off by a damp cloth being shoved over his mouth and nose. He struggled as the sickeningly sweet smell of chloroform made its way into his system. His eyelids fluttered as he fought against unconsciousness.

"Nighty, night, Mr. Kaiba." Everything went black.

 **xxx**

Seto kept kicking, but the lid wouldn't budge. He frantically tried to inhale more air, his heavy gasps blocked by the piece of cloth gagging his mouth. He knew he had to stay calm. The more he panicked, the faster he'd run out of air. But how could he not panic? He was sealed inside a coffin and buried underground. He kicked the lid again as tears of frustration started to sting his eyes. He had to figure out a way to get out of here. He had to. For Alissa, for _Mokuba_. Mokuba couldn't bear to lose his last living family member. He had to get out for Mokuba. But as time passed, Seto felt himself becoming weaker and weaker. It started getting harder to breath. Black began to invade the edges of his vision. _Alissa. Mokuba. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't strong enough._ Darkness.

 **xxx**

Four days. It had been four days since Seto went after his abducted brother. Four days since Seto was captured instead. And it had taken four days for Alissa and Mokuba to finally find where Mokuba, and eventually Seto had been taken.

"Where is he?" Mokuba asked, surveying the empty cell.

"They wouldn't have taken him somewhere else would they?" Alissa asked, looking around the room for any clues.

"I don't know," Mokuba answered honestly. "This is all my fault! If I hadn't gotten kidnapped Seto wouldn't have gotten into this mess!"

"Mokuba, none of this was your fault-."

"I should have been paying attention to where I was going when I escaped. Maybe then we would have been able to find this place faster."

"Mokuba," Alissa replied, grabbing the younger Kaiba by both shoulders. "None of this was your fault. The only people who are at fault are the people who took you and your brother. Now, the people who took your brother had to have slipped up somewhere. I'm sure if we keep looking we'll find something that'll lead us to where he is. We'll find him, okay? I promise."

Slowly, Mokuba nodded and tugged his shoulders out of her grip before exiting the cell and heading down the hall.

"Alissa!"

The dark-haired girl immediately bolted for the room down the hall that Mokuba had disappeared into. She entered to find Mokuba standing frozen in the middle of the room. His eyes were fixed on the middle of the room where a shovel sat next to recently disturbed ground.

"Oh my God," she gasped. "You don't think that they-?"

"Seto!" Mokuba screamed, diving for the shovel and frantically starting to dig into the earth. Alissa fell to her knees beside Mokuba and started to dig with her hands, desperately trying to help the younger Kaiba displace the dirt faster.

"Seto! Seto!" Mokuba kept repeating his brother's name like a mantra.

"Hold on, Seto!" Alissa screamed.

When the tip of the shovel finally landed on something more solid, Mokuba tore open the lid.

Seto was lying inside, motionless. All the blood had left his face, leaving it deathly pale. His mouth was gagged and his hands tied tightly behind his back His blue eyes were closed and a bandage was wrapped around his leg, dried blood visible beneath the white of the bandage.

"Seto!" Mokuba cried, trying to lift his older brother's body out. "Alissa, help! Please!"

She didn't have to be told twice. She helped lift the older Kaiba out of the coffin and onto solid earth. She frantically released Seto's wrists and slipped the gag from his mouth.

"Seto." Mokuba shook his older brother's body. "He isn't breathing!"

"No," Alissa whispered. "No, no, no! Seto!" She desperately reached for him, holding his face between her hands. The brunet remained motionless. She pressed her ear to his chest and her world stopped. There was no heartbeat. They were too late. Seto Kaiba was dead.

* * *

 **Well…that just happened. I was debating on if I wanted to kill Seto in this theme or not…clearly, I decided to kill him. Sorry. This is actually one of my favorite prompts so far, I know I'm awful. But this is a spooky theme challenge after all. Not every theme can have a happy ending. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed despite the dark content.**

 **Now, regarding theme fourteen. I'm awful with time management (clearly) so theme fourteen won't be up today. My grandma's 90** **th** **birthday was today so we had dinner plans. I had planned to get both themes done before we left for dinner, but it took me longer to write this theme than I anticipated…Sorry.**

 **SO, with that said, instead of uploading theme thirteen and fourteen today, I'll be uploading theme fourteen AND fifteen TOMORROW (the 15** **th** **).**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this dark theme and I'll talk to you guys tomorrow.**


	14. Alien

**Hey, guys. Sorry that this theme is late. This prompt is another short one. It's based loosely on the movie The Fourth Kind. Enjoy.**

* * *

" _An encounter in the first kind,_

 _that's when you see a UFO._

 _The second kind is when you see evidence of it:_

 _crop circles, radiation._

 _The third kind is when you make contact._

 _But the fourth kind,_

 _there's nothing more frightening than the fourth._

 _You see, that one is when_

 _they abduct you."_

 _-Abbey Tyler, The Fourth Kind_

 **XIV.**

"There was another UFO sighting today," Alissa replied from her spot curled up next to Seto on the couch in front of the television.

"Tch, you don't actually believe that garbage, do you?" Seto asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Several people have reported seeing them all over the city."

"Hn, what's your point? The world is full of idiots."

"But space is huge. You really think we're the only planet with living beings?"

"I've been to space. I never encountered an alien."

"Yeah, but you also stayed within our solar system."

"Aliens aren't real. Don't be stupid."

Alissa huffed angrily and replied, "if you're going to be such an ass about it then I'm going to bed."

"I have work to finish anyway," the CEO responded without missing a beat.

She stood and stomped off to their bedroom, leaving Seto alone in the living room. After she left, the brunet released an annoyed sigh before switching off the television and standing up himself. He walked to his home office and powered up his computer. He stared out the floor to ceiling window as he waited. A glowing, disc like object suddenly flew across the sky and he blinked hard, scowling. _Now Alissa has me seeing things_ , he thought angrily. He refused to believe the garbage that the media was spewing about recent UFO sightings. Aliens weren't real. And anyone who believed they were was a _fool_.

 **xxx**

"Seto! Come look at this!" Alissa called from downstairs the following morning.

"I'm working," he answered, his hands never pausing in their dancing across the keys of his laptop.

"Seto, I'm serious! You need to come look at this!" Her voice sounded panicked.

He released an annoyed growl before pushing his chair back from his desk and exiting his home office. He came down the stairs and found Alissa standing in the front doorway.

"What is it?" he asked in irritation as he approached her side.

She didn't speak. Instead, she pointed outside, her eyes blown wide.

Seto followed where her finger pointed to with his gaze. His eyes widened. There, cut into the grass of their front lawn, were crop circles.

 **xxx**

"I don't know if we should stay here," Alissa said worriedly as the couple got ready for bed.

"What are you talking about?" Seto asked.

"Seto, don't act like you didn't see them too. We were _marked_."

"Alissa, it was a stupid prank. Nothing more."

"But experts have said that crop circles are a sign that-."

"Experts? Experts in what, Alissa? Aliens? Are you even listening to yourself? None of those so-called experts are credible! They're cons who try to scare people to get money! Don't fall for their stupid hoax!"

"But-."

"Aliens aren't real, Alissa. It was a prank. A stupid prank, but a prank nonetheless."

"Okay," she replied quietly. She wasn't convinced.

 **xxx**

Seto awoke in the middle of the night with the feeling that he was being watched. He looked to his side and found that Alissa was still sleeping soundly beside him. He sat up and looked around the darkened bedroom, his senses on high alert. He glanced in the direction of the windows and nearly jumped. A white owl sat just outside the window, peering in at the sleeping couple. _Tch, get a hold of yourself_ , he mentally scolded himself for being so jumpy. _It's just a stupid owl_.

Suddenly, the owl began to shift and a bright blue light began to glow from outside the window. _What the hell is that?_ He went to reach for the gun in the nightstand but found himself literally frozen in place. _What the hell is this?_ He fought against the force that held him frozen but he couldn't move even an inch. Slowly the owl outside began to take form of something with human like arms and legs. _This isn't real. This isn't real._ His eyes widened when he heard an unrecognizable voice in his head.

" _Yes, it is," the voice said. "We've come for you."_ The light blinded him then everything went black.

* * *

 **Well, Seto got abducted by aliens…I swear I do love him, even though I keep being mean to him. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Theme fifteen will be up within the next hour or so.**


	15. Nightfall

**Hey, guys! Here's theme fifteen. It's another short and sweet one, but it includes skeptic Seto and monster hunter Alissa. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _Fading light buttered the_

 _ridges until shadows_

 _licked them clean and they_

 _were lost to nightfall."_

 _-Daniel Woodrell_

 **XV.**

Seto and Mokuba hadn't lived in the town long. They bought the house in the town of Ashford with the intention to use it as a vacation home. Ashford was a small town, much smaller than their hometown of Domino. The two brothers figured having a vacation home in a small town would be a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities. Especially for the elder Kaiba, who frequently found himself dealing with crowds and crowds of people.

There was one thing that the Kaiba brothers didn't know about when they bought the house, however. One thing that they didn't understand. The town had a curfew. Every citizen, young or old, was required to be in their homes by nine o' clock at night.

After asking around, the brothers found out why. The town was cursed. Every day, at nightfall; which, oddly enough, was at exactly nine o' clock no matter what time of year it was, monsters would roam the streets. Anyone who was out after nine o' clock would be slaughtered.

Of course, Seto didn't believe any of it. He didn't believe in something as childish as monsters. That was part of the reason he found himself walking down the empty streets at exactly three past nine. He had always been a man of science and he was going to prove to the whole stupid town that "the curse" was nothing but a hoax.

"Tch, idiots," he said out loud. "It's almost five minutes past curfew and there's no sign of any monsters."

No sooner did he say that did he hear a hissing sound coming from behind him. He turned quickly and came face to face with a humanoid insect like creature.

"What the hel-!" he didn't get the rest of the exclamation out before the creature pounced. He dove to the side, barely dodging the creature. He didn't have enough time to recover before the creature was pouncing at him again, this time knocking him to the ground. In an instant, the creature was above him, trapping him beneath its massive body. Seto managed to land a hard kick to the creature's belly and it howled in pain before using one of its six legs to slice across Seto's shoulder.

The brunet hissed in pain and grabbed onto the wound. Maybe he should have thought this through. He shut his eyes as the creature loomed in. Then he heard the creature howl and felt blood spray his face. He opened his eyes in time to see the creature falling backwards, its throat slit.

Seto pushed himself up to his elbows and turned to face the person who had saved him. He was surprised to see a young woman with long, dark hair standing behind him with a bloody blade.

"Fucking gross," the girl complained, looking at the monster's corpse in disgust.

Slowly, the brunet pulled himself to his feet. His movement caused the girl to turn her attention to him.

"Are you an idiot?" the girl asked, wiping the monster's blood off her blade before placing it back in the holster on her hip.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Are you an idiot?"

"Tch, no I'm not," the brunet replied, affronted.

"Then what the fuck are you doing out here? The curfew is in place for a reason."

"Tch, then what are you doing out here?" he demanded, not wanting to reveal that he was past curfew to try and dispute the monster claims. There was no way he was going to let her talk to him that way. Even if she did just save his life, which he totally wasn't going to admit.

"Saving your ass apparently," the girl responded with a smug smirk.

The CEO growled. "I didn't need any saving!"

"Whatever you say, damsel."

"I am _not_ a damsel!"

"Uh huh, right. You totally had yourself handled."

"I _did_."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

He growled. This girl was really getting on his nerves.

"You're injured," she replied suddenly, frowning at the wound on his shoulder.

The brunet covered his injury with his hand, embarrassed. "I'm fine."

"Do you want me to help you take care of that?"

"I told you I'm fine!" Jeez, how many times was he going to have his ego bruised in one day?

"You know, you're not acting very grateful that I just saved your life."

"Because I didn't need saving."

"You should really take a look at your injury. It's still bleeding and blood will attract others. Maybe I should walk with you to make sure you get home alive."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" Another blow to his ego.

"Fine, if you're going to insist on walking by yourself at least take this." She took another knife from her other hip and handed it to him.

"Don't you need it?" he asked.

"No, I have others."

Reluctantly, he took it from her without a word.

"Try not to get yourself killed," she replied, turning over her shoulder and disappearing down a nearby alley.

Seto stood there for several seconds, his knuckles turning white from how tightly he was holding onto the blade. With his ego thoroughly bruised, he returned home. _We're selling this house_.

* * *

 **Well, there's theme fifteen. It's hella rushed and Seto is EXTREMELY OOC in my opinion but I'm tired so it is what it is. Also, the monster that attacked Seto is Insect Queen cause I think she's creepy looking. I didn't want to use one of Seto's many dragons as the monster cause then he'd definitely die. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed theme fourteen and fifteen. I'll upload theme sixteen tomorrow.**


	16. Spirit

**Hey, guys. Here's theme sixteen. It's really short. The shortest one yet actually. It's also very loosely based on the movie Ouija. Enjoy.**

* * *

" _As friends we've gathered,_

 _hearts are true,_

 _spirits near we call to you."_

 _Ouija_

 **XVI.**

"I'm not sure that I like this idea," Alissa replied nervously as she gathered around the game room table with her friends.

"Yeah, maybe Alissa is right you guys." Yugi piped up.

"Aw, don't tell me ya guys are scared or somethin'," Joey whined.

"Ouija boards can be dangerous though," Alissa replied. "I mean, you're opening a door to the other side whenever you use one and not everything that comes through the doorway is good. I don't want to end up having some malevolent spirit in my house."

"Did anyone die in da house?" Joey asked.

"Uh, not that I know of. Seto never mentioned-."

"Den what's da problem?"

"Okay, fine," Alissa replied, still not completely convinced.

"Don't worry about it, Liss. It's just a game after all," Joey comforted, sensing her uncertainty. He pulled the board out of his knapsack and placed it on the table.

"We should hurry up and play before Seto gets home from work. I don't really feel like listening to him explain to us why Ouija boards and ghosts aren't real."

"Alright, everybody gather 'round!"

The group of friends listened to Joey's invitation and sat around the table.

"So how exactly does this work, Joey?" Tristan asked.

"We all got ta put two fingers on da planchette." They all did. "Den we move it in a circle for each person playin' so dat's five times." He paused to do just that then spoke again. "Repeat after me, as friends we've gathered, hearts are true, spirits near we call to you. Are any spirits here?"

Only a few seconds passed and the group of friends felt the planchette move under the fingers. Slowly, it moved to the word yes at the top of the board.

"Okay, Joey, that isn't funny!" Tea scolded, pulling her hands back fearfully. "Stop moving it!"

"I'm not movin' it!" Joey shouted back defensively.

"Maybe we should just put it away," Alissa replied, pulling her hands off of the planchette. Tristan and Yugi followed. To the horror of the group of friends, the planchette began to move on its own. **Hi, Friend.**

* * *

 **Well, like I said, this one is hella short. Sorry about that. Theme seventeen will be up tomorrow. Oh, also, this has nothing to do with this theme challenge, but I've been working on the next chapter of ACIM. That should be up by Sunday at the latest. Anyway, talk to you guys again soon.**


	17. Superstition

**Hey, guys. Here's theme seventeen. I was originally going to do something along the lines of Seto having bad luck because he keeps breaking superstitions (breaking mirrors, walking under ladders, etc.) but then I saw a black cat on my run and decided to change it up. I just love cats okay. Anyway, read and enjoy!**

* * *

" _Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy:_

 _the mad daughter of a wise mother."_

 _-Voltaire_

 **XVII.**

Seto was on a morning walk; an activity his doctor suggested to prevent stress and reduce his blood pressure, when he found her. She was tiny and soaked and shivering in the gutter near the manor. He _very_ briefly considered leaving the thing but when the kitten blinked up at him and mewled helplessly, that thought instantly left his head. He did have standards to live up to after all, he couldn't just leave it there. Plus, if Alissa ever found out that he left a kitten abandoned in the gutter, she'd kill him. And he very much liked being alive thank you very much.

He bent down and carefully picked the black kitten up. The kitten fit in his cupped hands. "You're very small." The kitten let out a small mewl and rubbed her face against his fingers. "You're barely large enough to meow." The cat mewled again, curling up in his hands.

"I'm not keeping you," he said determinedly as he pulled the kitten to his chest to warm her up. "I already have _three_ cats to deal with. I don't have time to deal with another. I'm taking you to the shelter." The kitten curled up further into his chest and shut her eyes, letting out a content purr before falling to sleep. Seto sighed. _God damn it, no I'm not. I'm going to keep you._

 **xxx**

"Where did you find her?" Alissa asked, looking at the black kitten that was still curled up in Seto's lap. The black cat hadn't left his side for a minute since he brought her home.

"She was in the gutter," he answered, absently scratching the kitten behind her ear.

"Someone just left her there?" Mokuba asked with a frown. "Why would someone do something like that?"

"It's October, Mokuba," Alissa replied.

"What does that have to do anything?"

"A lot of animals get abandoned around this time of year, particularly black ones. People think they're bad luck."

"That's so heartless!" Mokuba exclaimed, shocked at the mere idea of an animal being abandoned for any reason, let alone something as stupid as a superstition.

"It's stupid. People are idiots that will believe anything," Seto replied.

"So, what are we going to do with her?" Alissa asked. "We can't really take her to a shelter. Black cats rarely get adopted, especially this time of year."

"And we can't just abandon her," Mokuba added.

"We'll keep her," Seto replied.

"What? Seto, really? You'd let us take in another cat?" Alissa asked excitedly.

"As long as Mokuba's okay with it. He's the one with the allergy." The brunet paused to look at his brother, as if to ask him if he was okay with another cat, even though he already knew the answer.

"Of course, I'm okay with it, Seto," Mokuba answered with a large smile. "How could I say no to her cute little kitten face."

"Then it's decided. We're keeping her," Seto said, smiling with the knowledge that the kitten now had a home.

"What should we name her?" Alissa asked suddenly.

Seto gently scratched the kitten's head affectionately as Mokuba and Alissa each threw out a few name ideas.

"Seto? What do you think?" Mokuba asked, drawing the CEO's attention.

"Evangeline," the brunet replied.

"Evangeline?" Alissa asked, surprised that the CEO came up with such a girly name for his first suggestion.

"It means 'bearer of good news' or 'lucky'," he explained.

"Evangeline," Alissa repeated with a smile. "I love it."

Seto smiled and returned to petting the kitten affectionately. For a black cat, Evangeline was pretty damn lucky.

* * *

 **Yay for cats! Sorry that this is another short one, but some of the themes coming up will be longer. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed Seto fawning over a kitten. Let me know what you guys thought and I'll talk to you guys soon. Theme eighteen will be up tomorrow!**


	18. Cemetery

**Hey, guys! Here's theme eighteen! It's another short and sweet one. In this theme, Seto takes Mokuba and Alissa to the graves of his and Mokuba's parents. I decided to do something sort of sad, sweet, and fluffy instead of scary because my scarier ideas for the theme weren't coming out right. Anyway, read and enjoy!**

* * *

" _The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living."_

 _Marcus Tullius Cicero_

 **XVIII.**

"Seto, are we getting close?" Alissa asked, resting her chin in her hand as she stared absently out the car window. "We've been driving for hours."

He kept his gaze fixed on the road as he responded. "I'm perfectly aware of how long _I've_ been driving-."

"Hey, that's not my fault. I offered to drive."

"That would require you to know our destination."

"That's the other thing. Where exactly are we going?"

"You'll see shortly. We'll be there soon."

She grumbled in irritation and crossed her arms over her chest before mumbling, "I hate surprises."

Seto elected to ignore her comment and continued driving. He clenched the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He'd never admit it, but he was nervous. He was taking Alissa to a place that had a huge amount of significance to him. He was taking Alissa to see the graves of his parents. His _real_ parents. No one aside from Mokuba and a few of his family members had ever been to the graves, so the face that he was taking her to see them was a big deal.

"You okay?" Alissa's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"I'm fine," he answered, probably too quickly. When he felt her concerned gaze still on her he pressed on. "I'm fine. Really. I'm just a little tired from the drive."

"Do you want me to take over? Because I can-."

"That isn't necessary. It's just up here."

Alissa perked up at his words but then sagged back into her seat with confusion on her face.

"Is that a cemetery?"

"Yes."

"Why did you drive us so far away for a cemetery?"

"I couldn't very well show you what I wanted to show you if we weren't in the town I was born in."

"The town you were born in?" she repeated, not quite understanding. Then it dawned on her. "Wait. Are you taking me to see your parents' graves?"

The CEO didn't answer and instead pulled up to park in front of the large, iron gates.

"Seto, are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, watching the brunet as he turned off the car.

"I just need to get something from the back," the CEO replied, ignoring her question. He unbuckled his seat belt and climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind him. She climbed out soon after, hesitant. Seto emerged from the back with two bouquets of flowers and gestured for her to follow him as he walked through the gates.

He walked ahead of her, holding the two bouquets of lilies and she trailed behind him, following him through the maze of tombstones. He stopped when he finally came to two large tombstones. She couldn't help but notice the look that passed over the brunet's face. It was a look of utter serenity, but also a look of grief.

"Seto, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Obviously." His reply was short as he kneeled down to place a bouquet on each grave.

"I mean, if you aren't ready that's okay-."

"I am ready. You wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

She gave him a reassuring smile before kneeling next to him and gently taking his hand in hers. She was surprised when instead of pulling away like he usually would, he threaded his fingers with hers and held her hand tightly.

"So, these are your parents, huh?"

"Tch, how observant of you."

"Their epitaphs are nice."

"Obviously. Mokuba and I wrote them."

"You wrote them?"

He snorted, whether it was in amusement, irritation, or both Alissa wasn't sure. "How often are you going to have me repeat myself?"

"Sorry. I'm just surprised is all. You were both so young. I mean, you were what, four when your mom passed?"

"Five. I was five."

She could feel the rigidness in his body and she bit her lip nervously. "Well, you were a very eloquent five-year-old."

That earned her a smile. "Yes, I suppose I was."

"Hey, Seto."

"Hm?"

"Thanks for bringing me here."

* * *

 **So, not a lot happened in this theme but I wanted to make it the "calm before the storm" so to speak because quite a few of the upcoming themes are going to be dark. With that said, I wanted to get as much fluff in as I can before I get to the themes that are going to be dark and sort of fucked up for lack of a better word. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll talk to you all tomorrow when I upload theme nineteen.**


	19. Haunted House

**Hey, guys! So, this theme gets a little dark. It doesn't include super descriptive violence and gore, but it does include character death, just to warn you all. Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

" _A house is never still in darkness to_

 _those who listen intently; there is a_

 _whispering in distant chambers,_

 _an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window,_

 _the latch rises. Ghosts were created when_

 _the first man awoke in the night."_

 _-J.M. Barrie_

 **XIX.**

"Can you at least _pretend_ that you want to be here?" Alissa asked, staring at Seto's frowning face from her spot in the passenger seat.

"Tch, you and I both know that I _don't_ want to be here," Seto replied coolly.

"Yeah, I know. You've been moping the whole drive."

"I have _not_ been moping. I'm just not particularly pleased that you dragged me away from my work to spend the weekend in some vacation home in the middle of nowhere with your stupid group of friends."

"Aw, come on, Seto. Yugi and the gang aren't that bad," Mokuba piped up from his spot in the backseat.

"Tch, they're all a headache."

"Can you start helping me with the bags, Little Kaiba?" Alissa asked, hoping that he got the hint. She needed to talk to Seto before they went in.

"Sure, Alissa," the young man replied, unbuckling his seat belt and climbing out of the red sports car to open the trunk. As soon as the back door shut, she turned her attention back to the brunet.

"Look, I know you didn't want to come. Mokuba and I really appreciate you taking the time off to hang out with us this weekend but can you please try to get along with everyone this weekend." She didn't have to say who she was talking about for Seto to know who she meant.

"Hn, as long as the Mutt doesn't do anything to aggravate me that shouldn't be a problem."

"Seto, I'm serious. I don't want to deal with you two bickering and I'm sure everyone will agree with me."

"I'm not the one you need to worry about, it's your hot-headed friend."

She released a long sigh and rubbed at her temples. Sometimes the brunet's stubbornness made her want to put her head through a wall. "Please, Seto."

"Fine."

 **xxx**

"So, what do ya guys think?" Joey asked excitedly, looking around to gauge the reactions of the other eight people in the group.

"Hn, fantastic," Seto replied sarcastically, under his breath. Alissa elbowed him with a glare, thankful that Joey hadn't heard the brunet.

"This place looks great, Joey," Alissa replied with a smile. "It's the perfect size too. How many bedrooms are there? Four?"

"Five, actually. Three upstairs and two down here."

"Damn, Joey. How'd you manage to find this place?" Tristan asked, throwing an arm around the blond's shoulders.

"I told ya, my great uncle left da house ta Serenity and I."

"Thanks for inviting us here, Joey," Yugi said with a large smile.

"You're welcome, Yug," Joey replied. "Go on and pick your rooms, guys. Mai and I will take da one next to da downstairs bathroom."

"Dibs on the biggest upstairs room!" Alissa called, throwing her overnight duffle over her shoulder and bolting to the stairs.

"Hey! You can't call dibs until you've actually seen all the rooms!" Tristan called, chasing after her.

"You snooze you lose!" she called back with a laugh.

Seto fought the urge to roll his eyes at the childish exchange and instead knelt down to pick up his own overnight bag.

"Serenity and I will take the other room upstairs," Mokuba said, shouldering his and Serenity's bags.

The brunet had to fight the urge to roll his eyes again. Mokuba and Serenity had been dating for over half a year and Seto was still getting used to the idea that his younger brother was dating the Mutt's younger sister.

"Fine," the brunet replied, heading for the stairs. He wondered how mad Alissa would be if he were to be called away for an "emergency." He decided relatively quickly that it wouldn't be worth it. As annoying as Alissa's friends were, Alissa being angry with him was even more of an annoyance. Besides, there was no signal where they were anyway so he had no excuse to get him out of the gathering. But as the gang of friends ran around the house, claiming rooms and teasing each other, the brunet really started to regret his decision to go on the trip. _There's no way I'm going to make it through this weekend_ , he thought. He had no idea how right he was.

 **xxx**

Later that night, Alissa and Seto awoke from their sound sleep to a loud scream. The couple both shot up in bed, fully alert.

"That sounded like Mai," Alissa said worriedly, bolting out of the room with Seto close behind her. She hurried down the stairs and froze at the bottom landing. She screamed.

Mai was on the floor, her throat slit, and Joey kneeling next to her futilely trying to stop the bleeding. The group all stood around the slain blonde woman wearing looks of shock, horror, and grief.

"Don't just stand there! Somebody do somethin'! Call for help!" Joey begged before returning his attention to his dead girlfriend. "Come on, Mai. Ya gotta stay with me!"

Nobody could move. The group was frozen in shock.

"Please! Somebody help me!" Joey's voice cracked as he pleaded. "Okay, come on, Mai. Come on. You'll be fine."

"Joey," Alissa whispered, finally moving to kneel beside her friend. "She's gone, I'm sor-."

"No! No one come near me unless you can bring her back!" Joey yelled, turning on Alissa in a grief-stricken rage.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I-I don't know. I woke up an' she wasn't in bed. I came out here ta find her and I found her like dis. I don't know what happened. I don't-." He couldn't even finish without dissolving into tears.

"Someone must have broken in," Seto replied, eyeing the area for any signs of an intruder.

"It doesn't look like there was forced entry," Alissa pointed out.

"Do you have any other explanations?"

"Well, no but-."

"Exactly. We all need to get out of here, before whoever killed Mai decides to kill one of us."

"I'm not leaving Mai here!"

"You got any other ideas, Wheeler?"

"I'm not leaving her here!"

"If you want to stay here to be picked off by some psycho killer then be my guest. I'm leaving. Alissa, Mokuba, let's go."

Suddenly, the lights went out. All hell broke loose. The group all screamed and blindly made their way towards to door in the dark. Serenity made it to the front door first and tried to pull it open.

"The door doesn't have a handle!" she screamed.

"What?" Tristan exclaimed, finding his way to the door next. "Shit! She's right! There's no knob! We're trapped!"

"Try the windows!" Alissa exclaimed desperately.

"They won't budge!" Yugi yelled fearfully.

"Then break them open, you idiot!" Seto yelled back.

Yugi tried to kick out the glass but it was as if the windows were made of rubber. He kept kicking at the windows until he was out of breath.

"They won't break!"

"What the hell do you mean they won't break?"

"I don't know! It's like the windows are made of rubber!"

"That's impossible!" The group all attempted to break open the windows and break down the door with no success.

"We're trapped!" Mokuba cried desperately.

A series of loud screams suddenly filled the house, causing the group to freeze in fear. The lights began to flicker rapidly as if someone was flipping the switch on and off.

"What the hell is going on?" Seto roared, grabbing hold of Alissa and Mokuba in the dark and pulling them into his chest protectively.

A dark figure suddenly appeared behind Joey, holding a knife.

"Joey! Behind you!" Alissa warned.

There was a squelching sound, followed by a grunt and Joey fell to the floor, bleeding heavily from a stab wound in his back.

"No, Joey!" Serenity wailed, making to move to her brother's side.

"Ren! Don't!" Mokuba warned, trying to stop her. He didn't move fast enough and Serenity went down next, bleeding from a large wound in her chest.

"Serenity!"

"Everyone run!" Seto yelled, grabbing hold of Mokuba and Alissa and bolting away from the figure.

"Wait! What about my friends?"  
"They'll be fine, Alissa! Right now we need to get out of here!"

"But my friends!"

"Alissa, just ru-!" The brunet was cut off when he felt something sharp enter his back and exit through his chest. He choked on the blood that started to fill his mouth and collapsed to the floor. He heard Alissa and Mokuba scream. Everything went black.

* * *

 **Well…this theme was probably shit, but for some reason this one was REALLY hard to write. I'm not sure why. I'm not entirely proud of how this one turned out, but I can't be happy with every theme I guess. Anyway, theme twenty will be up soon. Theme twenty-one** _ **should**_ **be up today as well but if theme twenty takes a long time to get written, I'll just upload theme twenty-one with theme twenty-two tomorrow. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll talk to you guys real soon.**


	20. Potion

**Hey, guys! So, sorry again for getting behind with these themes. Being sick sucks. Anyway, I decided to go with something a little fluffier for this theme since I killed like five people in the last one. Anyway, this theme is slightly AU because it includes the use of potions and other forms of magic. However, this AU is** _ **not**_ **in the same universe as the Witch AU that was used in other previous themes. In this AU, someone tries to give Alissa a love potion and Seto gets jealous. Anyway, read and enjoy!**

* * *

" _I will show you_

 _a love potion_

 _without drug or_

 _herb, or any_

 _witch's spell; if you wish_

 _to be loved, love."_

 _-Unknown_

 **XX.**

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you," Mokuba advised as he watched Alissa bring her glass to her lips.

"What? Why? Did a bug fly into it?" she asked, stopping before any of the drink passed her lips and peering into her wine glass.

"Uh, no. I saw the bartender slip a love potion into your drink."

"What?" Alissa squawked, tossing the contents of her glass into a nearby potted plant.

"Seto is going to murder that guy."

"What? No, no, no, we aren't telling your brother."

"What? Why not?"

"Because he'll actually kill that guy."

"He just tried to drug you, Alissa!" Mokuba exclaimed, drawing the attention of a few people seated nearby.

"Shh, keep your voice down!" Alissa whispered fiercely. "Jeez, just let the whole place know, why don't you?"

"We need to tell Seto what he tried to do."

"No way. You know how jealous and protective your brother gets, he would actually _slaughter_ that guy if he knew."

"Maybe that guy needs to get slaughtered. What if he tries to do the same thing to someone else? What if no one is there to stop it the next time?"

Alissa opened her mouth to respond then closed it. Mokuba was right. If the bartender was trying to drug unsuspecting people with love potions, then something needed to be done.

"You're right, Mokuba. I'll let management know."

"And what about my brother?"

"I'll tell him later."

"Later? But, Alissa, what if-."

"I'll tell Seto about it when we get home okay? I promise-."

"Tell me about what?" the brunet CEO asked, catching the tail end of their conversation as he returned from the bathroom.

"Oh, Seto, uh it's nothing, I'll tell you all about it later when-."

"The bartender tried to slip Alissa a love potion."

The brunet's face darkened and he snarled, "what?"

"Mokuba," Alissa hissed between clenched teeth. _God damn it, Mokuba. Why did you say that?_

"I'll take care of this," the brunet snarled, heading towards the bar with an intimidating look on his face.

"Seto, it's okay, you really don't have to-."  
"Stay here," he ordered her over his shoulder.

"Seto. Seto, come on don't do this. Seto." _Damn it._

* * *

 **Alright, that was theme twenty. It's super short and the ending probably seems abrupt, but I didn't want to drag it out longer than necessary. Anyway, it's late so I'll be uploading theme twenty-one AND twenty-two tomorrow because I have no energy left to stay up and write theme twenty-one. Thanks for reading and for being patient while I play catch up. Let me know what you guys think of the themes so far and I'll talk to you guys tomorrow when I upload theme twenty-one AND twenty-two.**


	21. Slime

**Hey, guys! Here's theme twenty-one! For this theme, I decided to do a superhero AU. In this AU, Seto and Alissa are superheroes who often fight crime together but aren't technically partners in fighting crime. The reason being they want to avoid people figuring out their true identities…if that makes sense. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

" _If you want to fight evil,_

 _you have to climb down_

 _in the slime to do so."_

 _-David Gemmell_

 **XXI.**

It had been a long night and Seto had a feeling that it was far from over. He had just beaten up a group of thugs trying to rob the jewelry store downtown. The fight was a smooth one, or at least it would have been if the guy with the gun hadn't shown up. The brunet had managed to take all of the crooks down and put the bags of riches back in the store without even needing to shift fully into his dragon form, but he didn't see the driver of the van. He brought out a gun, shot at the brunet, and drove away. The bullet embedded into the CEO's shoulder, making him nearly collapse from the pain and forcing him to return to his human form to conserve energy. He shoved down the pain and made his way home over the rooftops.

Upon reaching the manor, he scaled the wall and snuck back into his bedroom through the window he'd left open. He hoped that Alissa and Mokuba were already asleep and hadn't noticed him leave. Unfortunately, the moment Seto stepped inside the room, the light came on. He instinctively brought his fists up in preparation for a fight, even with his shoulder still oozing blood. He looked around the room and found Alissa standing beside the light switch, her arms crossed over her chest and wearing a disapproving frown.

"It's really easy to rob someone if they leave the window open every night, you know?" Alissa asked, raising one eyebrow.

"What are you doing up?" he asked, dropping his fists to hold a hand over his injured shoulder.

"I could ask the same thing, but I already know." Her frown stayed on her face as she crossed the room to stand by their bed.

"Where's Mokuba?"

"He's asleep; probably doesn't even know you left. He's a heavy sleeper, unlike me," she paused to lean against the bedpost and look at him expectantly. "What happened?"

"An attempted robbery at the jewelry store downtown."

"And you went without backup for what reason?"

"Tch, I had it handled. I didn't even have to shift fully."

"Yes, clearly. I guess getting shot was part of the plan then, right?" she asked smugly.

"I'm fine. I didn't see the van driver is all."

"You need a patch?"

"Tch, obviously. Bleeding from the shoulder isn't exactly comfortable."

"Then come over here and sit so I can fix you up, dumb ass."

"Are you stupid? I'm not sitting on the bed when I'm bleeding. The sheets will get stained."

"Then sit in the desk chair."

The brunet made a scoffing noise but complied. He peeled open his super suit and hissed in discomfort when the tight material brushed against the wound.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked, sliding his costume down until his upper body was uncovered.

"I don't know. Maybe twenty minutes," she answered, uncrossing her arms and approaching him. She was pleased to see that aside from a couple bruises and the bullet wound, he seemed to be completely unharmed. She placed her fingers on the edge of his injury and closed her eyes. The torn skin and muscle shimmered and slowly started to pull itself back together. A bloodied bullet slid out of the wound, pushed out by the flesh mending itself behind it. When she opened her eyes, all that remained of the injury was a small, circular scar that would fade with time.

Seto grumbled a thank you and pulled his mask off, tossing it onto the desk.

"You know, things would be a lot easier if we just became partners," she replied, crossing her arms again.

"Tch, so people could figure out our true identities? Not happening."

"You're acting as if people would actually be able to put two and two together."

"Because they _would_. We're big enough targets as it is. If people found out that we were a superhero duo, let alone superheroes at all, that would put an even bigger target on our backs. Or even worse, it would put a target on Mokuba's. I'm not risking that."

"I know. I'm just saying it'd be a lot easier on you if I could be there to give you a patch whenever right away. If you keep this up, one day you're going to bleed out before I'm able to give you a patch."

"Tch, I can change into a dragon and destroy _skyscrapers_ with one breath. I think I'll be fine."

Before Alissa could respond, there was a loud explosion from outside. The force of the explosion caused the ground to shake.

"What the hell was that?" Alissa asked, peering out the window. She could see a cloud of smoke billowing in the middle of town.

Seto was on his feet in an instant, slipping his super suit back over his body and placing his mask back on his face before speaking. "I'm going to check it out."

"I'll come with you."

"No. I told you. I work alone." Without another word, he exited through the still open window and disappeared into the night.

Damn it, Seto! I'm going to kill you!" she growled in frustration before disappearing into their closet to find her own super suit. _Like hell I'm going to let him do this alone_.

 **xxx**

When Seto arrived at the scene, he was surprised to find a giant slime monster attacking the city. _This is what's attacking the city? Tch, what a joke. This should be over quickly_. He shut his eyes and slowly began to shift into his dragon form. His nails splintered to make room for long, sharp claws. His nose and mouth grew until it resembled a snout. His bones creaked, taking shape into a much larger, far less human shape and large wings began to sprout out of the middle of his back between his shoulders. Shimmering silver scales formed across the entirety of his body and his pupils narrowed into slits. When the shift was complete, he let out an ear shattering roar.

"It's the Dragon Master! We're saved!" a woman yelled in relief.

With a small growl of warning, Seto leapt at the slime monster, claws unsheathed and sharp teeth drawn. To his shock, the slime monster dodged his attack. Before he could regain his bearings to attack again, the slime monster slammed a thick, slimy arm into the dragon's side. He let out a roar at the sharp burn in his side. He looked down to see that the slime had _melted_ through the protective layer of his scales and left a red, blistered burn. He pushed down the pain and struggled to his feet before attacking again. The slime monster hit him again, this time on the snout and sending him flying backwards into the wall of a nearby building.

"Dragon Master!" a voice shouted in concern. _No, what the hell is she doing here?_ He watched as Alissa, dressed in her super suit, landed not far from where he lay.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he growled, low enough that only she could hear him.

"I thought you would need some help. Clearly I was right."

"The White Savior is here! She'll help us!" a citizen shouted upon Alissa's arrival.

"Do you need a patch?" she asked, approaching the dragon's side, hands raised.

"I'm fine," he answered, gritting his teeth from the pain and struggling to his feet again.

"Let me help. You can't do this alone."

"Just stay out of my way." He leapt at the monster again, fire shooting out of his open mouth. The slime creature screeched in pain, but instead of weakening the monster, the fire just made it angrier, and soon, Seto found himself being thrown back again, a long burn stretching across the length of his spine.

"Please, let me help!" Alissa begged, coming to the dragon's side and placing her hands on the edge of his most recent injury.

Seto growled, but let her heal him. As much as he hated to admit it, Alissa was right. This creature was like nothing he'd faced before. If they wanted to beat this monster, they were going to have to work together.

* * *

 **I actually really like how this theme turned out. Maybe one day I'll make an actual story about this. Just to clarify, Seto's superhero alter ego is The Dragon Master and he has the power to shapeshift into a dragon and has super strength. Alissa's alter ego is The White Savior and she has the power to heal and can also use energy bursts (for lack of a better word). Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this superhero AU. Theme twenty-two will be up soon!**


	22. Fangs

**Hey, guys! Here's theme twenty-two! It's really short and like nothing happens but I was stuck. It's set in the same universe as theme number four was. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _Not all the monsters_

 _have fangs."_

 _-Jack London_

 **XXII.**

It was morning. Alissa and Seto laid side by side in Alissa's bedroom, the curtains drawn to prevent sunlight from peeking in through the blinds and burning the vampire's skin.

"Hey, Seto?" Alissa asked.

"Hn?" the vampire grunted in response, his eyes still closed.

"Can I ask you a kind of personal question?"

"It depends on what the question is."

"Will you tell me about when you were turned."

The brunet vampire's eyes snapped open and he frowned. "No." He rolled over so his back was to her, hoping that the action would end the discussion. Of course, it didn't.

"Please?"

"No, Alissa."

"If you won't tell me then I'll just ask Mokuba."

"Tch, he's not going to tell you either."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because it's something that I don't really enjoy talking about."

"But it still bothers you."

He rolled over and fixed her with a hard stare. "It doesn't. It's in the past."

"You still have nightmares. I can hear you sometimes when you sleep here during the day."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But, Seto, talking about it might help you-."

"Will talking about it change anything? Will talking about it make me human again?"

"Well, no but-."  
"Then drop it. Now, if you're done prying into my private affairs, I'd like to go back to sleep."

"Sorry. You're right. I'm sorry I woke you. Go on back to sleep, I'll see you tonight."

"Stay out of trouble, I don't have time to play hero today." The brunet shut his eyes and rolled over.

Alissa sighed and let the matter drop. Maybe someday he would tell her how he was turned, but not today.

* * *

 **Well…this theme is hella short and sucky but I was stuck with this theme for some reason. This was really all I could come up with. I think I'm still recovering from whatever sickness I had. Oh well, I can't love every theme I guess. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll talk to you all tomorrow when I upload theme twenty-three.**


	23. Voodoo

**Hey, guys! Sorry that this theme is up a day late. Yesterday was a shit show. Anyway, this theme is another dark one. It includes brief, non-descriptive torture; just a warning for those who are uncomfortable with that kind of content. Anyway, read on.**

* * *

" _Voodoo dolls belong in_

 _the house of voodoo."_

 _-Marie Laveau_

 **XXIII.**

Seto came to with a pained groan. He slowly blinked his eyes open and groaned when everything seemed to dip and sway. He attempted to move his hands to his face but he found that his wrists were bound securely behind the back of the chair he was sitting in. His head lolled and he struggled to keep his eyes open against the dizziness. The pain in his head combined with the dizziness alerted him that he most likely had a concussion. _Great_ , he thought bitterly. He let his eyes slip shut again in an attempt to soothe his vertigo. _What the hell happened?_ He raked his brain to try and remember the events that led up to him waking up bound to a chair. He remembered coming home from work. He remembered having dinner with Mokuba and Alissa and then climbing into bed after watching a movie together. He remembered hearing the security alarm going off and rushing his brother and Alissa to the safe house. He remembered the panic he felt when he realized Alissa had left the safe house to help him. The last thing he remembered was Alissa screaming as a crowbar came crashing into the back of his head. _Alissa!_ His head shot up and his eyes opened as he surveyed his surroundings in search of the dark-haired girl. His hopes that she had gotten away were crushed when his eyes landed on her similarly bound form.

"Alissa!" he yelled in concern.

Alissa's head shot up, relief crossing through her eyes and she cried out "Seto! You weren't waking up, I thought he'd killed you!"

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. You're the one who was hit over the head with a crowbar. How's your head?"

Her words brought his attention back to the intense pounding in his head and he grumbled, "hn peachy."

The couple's conversation stopped when the door to their prison opened. A tall man with thinning hair and a salt and pepper beard entered carrying a tool box under one arm and a duffle bag on his shoulder.

"You two are finally awake. Good. Now we can begin."

"Who are you?" Seto demanded. "Release us now!"

"You're in no position to be making demands, Mr. Kaiba," the man responded as he set the tool box down on the table near the far wall.

"Who are you?" the brunet repeated.

"I'm the man you put out of business with your stupid company." The man dropped the duffle bag roughly, accenting the anger in his voice.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Seto asked, brow creasing in confusion.

"Have you heard of Greene Enterprise?" the man asked, closing in on his two captives with a sinister look in his eyes.

"Tch, you mean that washed up gaming company that recently went bankrupt? Yes, I've heard of them." Seto's head was forced to the side when the man backhanded him hard across the face. Seto could taste blood from where the man's ring split open his lip.

"I suggest you keep that mouth of yours in check," the man growled. "You cost me my company."

"Hn, I didn't cost you anything. It was your poor business tactics that cost you."

"No, Mr. Kaiba. It was _you_ that cost me my company," the former CEO of Greene Enterprise seethed. "And I'm going to make you _pay_ for ruining me."

"No, _you're_ going to be pay for kidnapping me and Alissa. Once we get out of this, you're going to have a major lawsuit on your hands!"

"Who said I was ever going to let you go?" the former CEO asked in amusement as he crossed back over to his toolbox and pulled out an X-acto knife. Then he went into his duffel bag and pulled out what appeared to be a small doll.

"Does this look familiar?" he asked with a devious grin.

"Aren't you a little old to be playing with dolls?"

"I would stop mocking me if I were you, Mr. Kaiba. Why don't you take a closer look?" the evil man held up to doll, giving the couple the opportunity to really look at the doll.

"I-It looks like me," Alissa finally said, her voice quivering slightly.

"What are you, some lunatic fan?" Seto asked.

"I assure you, Mr. Kaiba, I'm no fan. This happens to be a voodoo doll."

"Tch, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought."

"Excuse me?"

"Only a fool would actually believe in that junk. I already knew you were a fool because you were stupid enough to kidnap me and Alissa, but now I'm realizing you're even more foolish than I thought!"

"I'll show you who's the fool!" the former CEO seethed, bringing the X-acto knife down into the doll's right arm and ripping it out with an angry grunt.

Alissa howled when a sharp pain shot up her arm, in the same place that Mr. Greene had stabbed the doll. Blood gushed steadily from the wound.

"Alissa! What the hell did you do?" the brunet roared, thrashing against the bonds holding him prisoner.

"Are you ready to take this seriously, Mr. Kaiba?"

"Fuck off! Leave Alissa out of this!"

"Very well. More fun for me." He brought the knife down again, this time into the doll's belly, and Alissa screamed.

* * *

 **Well, here's theme twenty-three. I apologize again that this was up a day late. Yesterday ended up being really busy and I didn't get a chance to sit down and write. In regard to theme twenty-four, I won't be able to upload that theme tonight. I barely had any time to get chapter twenty-three done today. SO, tomorrow I'll upload theme twenty-four AND theme twenty-five so I'm caught up. Anyway, thanks for the reviews for the last few themes, I appreciate the support immensely. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow when I upload theme twenty-four and twenty-five.**


	24. Skeleton

**Hey, guys! So, this theme is another dark one. For this theme, I decided to go for a more figurative skeleton, rather than a real one. In this theme, Seto discovers an old journal that belonged to Gozaburo and he discovers a dark family secret.**

 **This theme mentions past physical abuse as well as past sexual abuse; just a warning for those who may be uncomfortable with that kind of content. Anyway, read and enjoy!**

* * *

" _One dark night the_

 _skeletons that they had_

 _carefully hidden in an_

 _obscure closet appeared,_

 _grabbed them around the throat,_

 _and strangled them."_

 _-Ben Carson_

 **XXIV.**

 _One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight._ Seto mentally counted out each step as he ascended the stairs up into the attic. He was halfway there. Halfway to the room that he hadn't been in since his adoptive father was alive; the room where Seto endured countless hours of abuse under Gozaburo's hands.

When he reached the sixteenth and final step, he paused. He took in a deep breath. He could do this, he _had_ to do this. He had come up here to exorcize his demons and he wasn't going to leave without doing just that. He finally climbed the last step and as soon as his foot made contact with the floor boards, all the memories came rushing back. The sting of the riding crop and Gozaburo's belt ripping across the flesh of his back and shoulders. The pain from Gozaburo's cane hitting him hard enough to fracture bone. The burn of the cigars put out on his skin. The bruising ache from being forced down to his knees in front of Gozaburo as the older man undid the fastenings of his pants. He remembered it all. He clenched his fists in an attempt to calm his racing heart. _Get a hold of yourself, Seto. The bastard is dead._

With his breathing back under control, the brunet walked further into the attic. The air was dusty, causing the CEO to cough in an attempt to clear his lungs of the soiled air. Soon this room would be repainted, the windows cleaned, and the sun would come in through the windows again. There'd be no more dust, no more grimy windows, and no more bad memories. He found himself moving to the small bed by the window and sitting on it. He released another sigh as he sunk into the bed.

He'd gone upstairs to the attic to exorcize his demons, but now that he was there he didn't even know where to start. His brow creased in confusion when his hell struck something hard underneath the bed. With his curiosity peaked, he knelt beside the bed and dragged out what his heel had struck. It was an old, brown trunk. He flipped open the lid and found several faded, leather bound books sitting inside. He picked up the one that was on top and flipped it open. It was an old journal. Upon further inspection, he found that it was one of Gozaburo's old journals.

Ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut, Seto settled himself back on the bed and started to read. As he read, the sinking feeling increased. He couldn't believe what he was reading.

 **xxx**

 _The boy is dead. Machines may be keeping his heart pumping and his other vital functions going, but his body is useless to him. The only part of him that survived was his brain, which I've arranged to have uploaded to a computer. His body will be preserved to be used in my newest experiment._

 _No one will ever know that my son's death wasn't an accident. The boy was beginning to question me too much. He was weak; a disease, and it's always better to cut off the diseased limb than to let it spread._

 **xxx**

Seto shut the journal with a slam, his heart racing and eyes wide. He had to get out of the attic. He had to get out! He threw the journal back into the trunk and bolted out of the attic. He slammed the door behind him and slid down to the floor. His hands shook as his heart hammered in his chest. Gozaburo had Noah killed. His own son! Seto had gone up to the attic to exorcize his demons, but instead, he had uncovered the skeletons in Gozaburo's closet.

* * *

 **Well, here's theme twenty-four! It's a little short and pretty dark but I actually like how it turned out. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll hopefully upload theme twenty-five later tonight (as long as my rehearsal doesn't go late again). Anyway, thnanks for reading and I'll talk to you guys soon!**


	25. Body Horror

**Hey, guys! Here's theme twenty-five. Let me start off by saying I am so, SO, sorry that it's up so late! Rehearsals kept me really busy. Anyway, this theme gets a little dark and a little gross considering the theme is called body horror, but there isn't anything too descriptive. Also, this theme is a follow up to theme seven, scarecrow. It takes place pretty much right where that theme ended. Anyway, read and enjoy!**

* * *

" _You are a sentient mortal condemned to die,_

 _and time is against you._

 _And someday you will be forced_

 _to embrace fear."_

 _-Scarecrow, Batman: No Man's Land-Fear of Faith_

 **XXV.**

Three nights. Three nights in a row, Seto and Alissa were violently roused from their sleep by a loud crash. For three nights, Seto and Alissa descended down the stairs following the crash only to find the scarecrow sitting inside their kitchen, forcing the brunet to return it to its post outside.

"Seto, maybe we should get rid of it," Alissa replied the morning following the third night.

"Tch, you're the one who wanted to keep the stupid thing," the CEO replied, sipping his coffee as he read through the emails he had gotten during the night.

"That was before it started coming alive!"

"That thing isn't coming alive."

"Then how else do you explain it showing up in our kitchen every night?"

"Hn, the parents and police force clearly have problems controlling the children in the area. It's some stupid, childish prank."

"But, Seto, I've seen that thing move."

"Hn, have you now?"

" _Yes_. I saw that thing smirk the other night when you moved it back outside!"

"Do you even hear yourself? It's a scarecrow. It isn't alive. Don't be stupid."

"I am not being stupid! I'm telling you, that thing is alive!"

"Tch, whatever. I don't have time for this." He paused to gather up his laptop and deposit his empty coffee mug in the sink. "I have conference calls all morning. I'd appreciate it if I wasn't disturbed.

"Fine," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She glared at him as he left the kitchen and headed for the office downstairs. _Ugh, why does he have to be such an asshole?_ She released another huff, leaning against the counter as she peered out the window. The scarecrow sat on the post, the fabric of its clothes blowing lightly in the wind. She jumped back in fear when the scarecrow smirked at her.

"Set-!" she started to yell but then stopped herself. He had explicitly said that he didn't want to be disturbed. But she had seen it smirk at her, in broad day light no less. She shook her head. No, he wouldn't believe her anyway. Not without proof. She straightened up, determination suddenly drowning out her feelings of fear. She was going to find a way to prove to Seto that the scarecrow was alive. She just hoped that whatever spirit possessed the scarecrow wasn't a malevolent one, and if it was, she hoped that once she found the proof she needed that she wouldn't be too late.

 **xxx**

Alissa dumped the armful of books onto one of the library tables with a grunt. She tried to ignore the weird stares she was getting from the other people in the library as she took a seat in front of the stack of paranormal books. With each book she scanned through she grew more and more irritated. _Seriously? Do none of these books have anything on objects being possessed?_ She slammed the final book of the stack closed with a sigh. Of course, none of the books would have what she was looking for. She gathered up the stack and headed back to the shelves to return the books to their rightful places. As she was returning the stack of books to their respective shelves, she caught sight of another room. Posted above the door was a sign that read **"Town Records."** She finished restacking the books and approached the records room. _Maybe I can find what I need in here_ , she thought. She entered the room and flicked the lights on using the switch on the wall. The lights buzzed as they came to life, bathing the room in a fluorescent glow. She made her way over to the shelves and slowly began to browse. She pulled one of the more recent record binders off the shelf and slowly began to flip through it. She paused a few pages in and nearly dropped the book. Several newspaper articles were held between two sheets of plastic to protect from water and dirt. It was the top article that caught her eye. It featured a picture of a house blocked off with caution tape. Across the top of the article, written in bold letters were the words **Murderer Responsible for Missing Persons Shot to Death in a Standoff Outside His Home.** But it wasn't the words that made her freeze; it was the fact that it was a picture of the home that she and Seto were staying in.

 **xxx**

"When were you going to tell me that people were murdered in this house?" Alissa demanded, storming into the home office and slamming the copies of the articles she had made onto his desk.

"I wasn't going to," the brunet responded, not even bothering to take his attention away from his work.

"So, you admit that you knew about it when we bought the house?"

"Of course, I knew. It's policy for real estate agents to disclose that kind of information before making the sale."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tch, because I knew you'd overreact."

"People were killed in this house, Seto!"

The CEO pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I'm aware of that."

"Maybe that's why all this weird stuff has been happening with that scarecrow!"

That got his attention, though not in the way she wanted. He snorted in amusement.

"What the hell is so funny?"

"Do you even hear yourself, Alissa? I think you've been hanging out with your stupid little group of friends too much."

"Don't be an ass! Tha-!"  
"The scarecrow _isn't_ alive. Yes, people were murdered here, but that has nothing to do with that stupid thing that _you_ made us keep in the first place."

"But, Seto-!"

"Enough! This is getting ridiculous. It's a stupid scarecrow, Alissa! Now go find something to do and let me work."

Alissa deflated before letting out a huff and storming out of the office. Of course he still wouldn't believe her. _Ugh, why does he have to be such an ass all the time? Just because he doesn't believe in the paranormal doesn't mean it isn't real!_ She stormed past the stairs that pulled down to enter the attic and paused. _The attic, that's it! Why didn't I think to look there before? I bet there's something up there that I could use to convince Seto that all this stuff is real!_ She tugged on the cord that released the stairs. She climbed up and went straight to the crate that she had found the scarecrow in. She heaved open the lid and found a leather-bound book sitting at the bottom of the crate. She hadn't seen it when she first discovered the scarecrow.

"How the hell did I miss this?" she asked herself aloud as she pulled the book out. Creepy looking symbols were carved into the leather of the front cover and Alissa felt a chill run up her spine. She opened the book and slowly started to flip through the pages. More symbols and gruesome images were scribbled on the aged pages. As she continued to flip through the pages, she grew more and more nauseous. She stopped on a page that held a diary entry and she nearly threw up.

 **xxx**

 _The skin of a woman is very beautiful. Soft and smooth. And it comes away so easily from the bone. Unfortunately, women do not survive my play nearly as long as men. It makes my play less enjoyable because I have to be careful with the women. I can't just tear into them with my tools the way I do with men._

 _I find that men are best used for their organs. Their organs are larger, at least it seems to be that way. I love to take their organs. It is most fun to do it when they're still alive._

 _They beg, they all beg. I don't listen. I need them. I need their skin, their organs, their eyes. I need all of them. I need all of their parts. The parts to make a perfect scarecrow. I'm nearly done now. All it's missing now is a soul. And mine will be perfect._

 _The town has begun to suspect me. I know that soon they'll come here to kill me. But I'll be ready for them. They can't kill a body that doesn't have a soul._

 **xxx**

Alissa tossed the journal away, scrambling away from the crate in fear. She held a hand over her mouth in an attempt to fight her increasing nausea. _Oh my God that…the scarecrow…i-it's made out of human body parts!_ _And the reason it's alive is because that murderer somehow merged his soul into the scarecrow!_ The floorboards creaking behind her caused Alissa to jump.

"Seto, you scared the shit out of me," she replied, turning to reprimand the brunet for sneaking up on her. But it wasn't Seto that was standing behind her. It was the scarecrow.

* * *

 **Well, I FINALLY got this theme up. Again, I'm so sorry that this took so long. I'll be playing some major catch up to get the themes I missed up. But I** _ **will**_ **finish this October Theme Challenge in October, it's just going to take a lot of catching up. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this theme. I'm not 100% happy with how it turned out but I'm content enough. Also, the italicized section towards the end is the diary entry she found in the journal. I didn't do a great job of making that very clear. Anyway, I'll talk to you guys again soon!**


	26. Nightmare

**Hey, guys! Well, I'm playing a major game of catch up with these themes. Anyway, here's theme twenty-six. I figured I'd do some family fluff since the last theme was dark. However, the first section of this chapter includes injury to a child and child death; just a warning to those who find this kind of content uncomfortable. Anyway, read and enjoy.**

* * *

" _My nightmares are usually about_

 _losing you."_

 _-Peeta Mellark from Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins_

 **XXVI.**

 _"Daddy!" Ben cried in fear, squirming against the strong hand that held both of his arms behind his back with a bruising grip._

 _"Stop squirming, you little brat!" the masked man holding Ben demanded, backhanding the boy across the face._

 _"Don't you dare touch him!" Seto roared, keeping his gun trained on the man holding his son captive._

 _The only thing that kept Seto from firing several rounds into his son's captor was the danger of shooting Ben by mistake. Seto was an excellent marksman, and he doubted that he'd miss his target, but he didn't want to take any chances. But the more he watched his son struggle, the stronger his urge to shoot became. The bruises on the boy's face and the rope burns visible on his upper arms made it obvious that the boy had been treated rather poorly during his weeklong captivity._

 _"Daddy, I'm scared! I want to go home!" the boy cried. Blood fell from his lip that had split open from his captor's ring when the brute backhanded him. Despite the boy's obvious fear, he continued to struggle._

 _"It's okay, Ben. I'm here to take you home."_

 _"Not so fast, Mr. Kaiba. I believe you owe us something in exchange for your son's safe return."_

 _"I'll give you what you want as soon as you release my son," the brunet growled, gripping his gun tighter._

 _"That's not how it works, Mr. Kaiba."_

 _"You're lucky I'm giving you anything at all after the way you treated my child."_

 _"No, you're lucky we've decided to return him to you. We could've sold him off to someone, I'm sure plenty of people would pay a hefty price for the son of one of the world's richest CEOs." The man paused to pull a pocket knife out of his jacket and press it close to Ben's throat, causing the still struggling boy to freeze._

 _"Don't!" Seto demanded, though it came out as more of a plea._

 _"I'm really starting to lose my patience, Mr. Kaiba. Give us what we asked for or I'll slit his throat while you watch." The man's threat made Ben whimper in fear._

 _When the CEO didn't respond immediately, the man pressed the blade even closer to the boy's neck, threatening to break skin and causing the boy's lip to tremble._

 _"Okay!" the brunet called out in desperation. He held on to the gun in one hand and used the other to dig into his pocket for the zip drive. The zip drive that held all of KaibaCorp's account information. The zip drive that would ruin him and his company. When he came to rescue Ben, he had no intention of turning over the zip drive to his son's captors. He had planning on double crossing the kidnappers, but seeing his son with a knife pressed close enough to his neck to nick the skin, that plan was no longer an option. He was just about to toss the zip drive to the kidnappers when there was a loud bang outside._

 _"Police! We have the place surrounded!"_

 _"We said no police," his son captor said darkly, his eyes narrowing to angry slits._

 _"No, I didn't call them-," Seto vowed in attempt to stop his son's captor from doing what he feared was about to happen._

 _"You broke our deal," the man replied. That was the only warning Seto got. In the next instant, the man was dragging the blade across Ben's throat._

 _"Ben!"_

 **xxx**

Seto bolted upright, chest heaving and choking on tears. He clasped his hand over his mouth to prevent waking Alissa as his breathing returned to normal. Once his breathing returned to normal, he slipped out of bed to check on his son. He knew that his son was okay; he had been the one to put him to bed a few hours prior, but he needed to see it for himself to ease the ache in his chest. Upon reaching the young boy's room, he was alarmed to find the bed empty. His heart started to hammer in his chest. Ben had to be okay. He had to be. Maybe he was in the bathroom…but no, Seto had walked past the bathroom on his way to his son's room and it was empty. The brunet's breaths started coming out in heavy pants. He had to find Ben. He had to find Ben. He had to-.

"Daddy?"

The CEO spun around upon hearing his son's voice and found the boy standing at his feet, holding a glass of water with one hand and sleepily rubbing at his eyes with the other.

"Ben," the brunet gasped out in relief, kneeling down and grabbing onto his son's shoulders. "You're supposed to be in bed!"

"I was thirsty," the boy replied with a yawn.

The CEO swallowed around the lump in his throat and nodded. "Yes, of course." Without another word, he wrapped his arms around his son and pulled him into his chest for a tight hug.

"Uh, Daddy? What's wrong?" Ben asked, wrapping his tiny arms around his father's neck to return the hug.

"Nothing, Ben. Nothing's wrong," the brunet reassured.

"Did you have a bad dream?" the boy asked, pulling himself out of his father's grip a little so he could see his face.

"Yes," he answered honestly.

"It's okay, Daddy. It was just a nightmare," the young boy comforted, hugging his father again and patting the brunet soothingly on the back.

"I know, Ben. It was just a nightmare," the CEO repeated. And thank God that's all it was.

* * *

 **Well, there's the twenty-sixth theme. Seto was probably a little OOC, but one of my major head canons is that Seto really softens up through the years, especially in the years after he has children. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this theme. Themes twenty-seven through thirty should be up periodically throughout the day tomorrow. Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you guys soon!**


	27. Possession

**Hey, guys! Here's theme twenty-seven. It's another short and dark one. It technically includes a character death. This theme is also set in an AU where Gozaburo was somehow able to escape the Virtual World before it was destroyed, though not in a physical form, but as a spirit. This is also a follow up to theme twenty-four, Skeleton. Anyway, read and enjoy!**

* * *

" _Monsters are real,_

 _and ghosts are, too._

 _They live inside us._

 _And sometimes,_

 _they win."_

 _-Stephen King_

 **XXVII.**

A week later, Seto slowly ascended the steps up to the attic, counting each step in his head as he went. Seto hadn't returned to the attic since the day he'd found Gozaburo's journal and uncovered the man's dark secret. But today was different. Seto was done hiding, he was going to face his demons head on and overcome them, just like he did with every other obstacle he faced in his life. He entered the attic and headed straight for the trunk under the bed that Seto had found containing his adoptive father's things. He dragged the heavy trunk out and threw open the lid. He stared down at all the books and leather-bound journals, his breath caught in his throat. Everything in this trunk was the last and only piece of Gozaburo that was left. When these books were destroyed, so would the last of Seto's demons. The brunet shut his eyes to center himself and calm his racing heart. Once calmed, the CEO reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a lighter. He was going to burn the last physical piece of Gozaburo, thus freeing himself from the cruel man's hold once and for all. The lighter flickered to life and the brunet held it over the drunk, intent on dropping it in until-.

"What are you doing up here, boy?" an all too familiar voice sneered.

Seto scrambled away from the trunk, the lighter switching of and falling useless to the floor. Had he heard right? Had he really heard Gozaburo. No. The brunet held his temples and shut his eyes. He had to be hearing things.

"Gozaburo is dead," Seto said aloud, trying to calm himself down. _He's gone, Seto. Don't be an idiot! Gozaburo is gone for good!_

"You can't get rid of me that easily, boy."

Seto started and his eyes shot open. His heart seemed to stop when his gaze fell on a very familiar figure standing just a few feet in front of him.

"No," the brunet denied. "This can't be real!"

"Oh, but it is, Seto. I'm real," the ethereal figure of Gozaburo replied with a sneer.

"You're dead. I got rid of you when I destroyed the virtual system that held your mind!"  
"I'm not that easily gotten rid of," the ex CEO of KaibaCorp sneered, inching his way closer to Seto. Seto scrambled backwards, trying to put as much distance between him and his adoptive father as possible.

"What's the matter, boy? Afraid?"

"I'm not afraid of you," the CEO hissed, barely hiding the quiver in his voice. He refused to show Gozaburo the effect he had on him.

Gozaburo smirked evilly, causing a chill to go up Seto's spine. He chuckled darkly and then replied, "you should be afraid." Gozaburo dove for his adoptive son and Seto stiffened, intending to run away until an icy chill had him stuck in place. He slowly started losing feeling in his fingers and toes. Achingly slow, the numbness began to travel throughout his body until he heard Gozaburo's voice in his head.

 _"I hope you don't mind me using your body, boy. I'm going to take back everything you stole from me, and I'm going to do it using your body."_

Seto couldn't feel his body anymore. It was as if his body wasn't his own. He heard Gozaburo's dark laugh in the back of his mind, and then, nothing.

* * *

 **Well, that's the end of this theme. I'm not happy with how it turned out at all to be honest. I tried stretching it out but nothing I wrote was coming out the way I wanted it to. Maybe one day I'll revisit this theme and rewrite it so it's not as awkward. Also, I'm sorry that I didn't end up catching up today. I don't really have an excuse except for that this theme was SO hard to write for some reason, I'm not sure why. So, it looks like Halloween is going to be a big game of catch up. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this theme and I'll talk to you all tomorrow when I upload the last four themes.**


	28. Monster

**Hey, guys! Firstly, Happy Halloween! I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween. Mow, it's time to play catch up. This theme is a follow up to theme fifteen, Nightfall. This follows "the defeat" of the warlock who cursed the town and the breaking of the curse. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _It's a spell that was banned_

 _after the dark times._

 _It was used on humans who mocked us_

 _By dressing up like creatures._

 _It was used on them to turn them unto_

 _The very creatures they were mocking."_

 _-Agatha "Aggie" Cromwell from Halloweentown II_

 **XXVIII.**

"I'm not sure I like this," Alissa replied, warily placing her hand over the blade she kept holstered to her hip. She let her gaze wander around the crowd packed into the town's event center.

"Tch, you're being paranoid," Seto grumbled back, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't even want to be here; here being a huge Halloween party with every citizen of the town in attendance. The only reason he was here was because Mokuba had forced him to come by hiding his laptop and cellphone and refusing to return them unless the brunet attended the event. Well, that was one of the reasons. The other reason was that he sort of, kind of, maybe liked Alissa. He'd never admit it outright, but he found the dark-haired monster hunter intriguing. So, Seto found himself at a

Halloween party, packed with people and donning a wizard's hat on his head.

"Yeah, don't worry, Alissa," Mokuba piped up, with a reassuring smile. "We defeated the warlock that cursed the town. The monsters are gone."

"I know, Mokuba. But I can't help but feel like we defeated him too easily. I can't shake the feeling that we're all still in danger."

"Maybe you're just nervous because this is the first time anyone in town has been out past nine o' clock in decades," Mokuba offered up.

"Yeah, maybe," she replied, still not completely convinced.

"Hn, you're being stupid."

"I am _not_ being stupid, Asshole! The citizens of this town have been threatened by monsters for decades! I have a perfectly good reason to be wary about this party! Especially when the citizens seem to have no problems dressing up as the very monsters that threatened them!"

"It's Halloween, Alissa. It's just tradition. You guys couldn't celebrate the tradition while the curse was active, so now that it isn't everyone is just making up for all the lost time," Mokuba replied before slipping the goblin mask down over his face. "Now let's stop worrying and go celebrate Halloween!"

"I think I'd rather do a perimeter check," Alissa said, beginning to head for the doors. Screams erupted from the crowd, causing her to spin around and pull her blade from its holster.

The crowd was frozen in fear, their gazes all trained on the cloaked figure hanging floating near the rafters of the building.

"Foolish humans!" the figure bellowed.

Alissa tightened her grip on the blade and growled, "Zigfried."

"I tried to be merciful with you humans. You disgusting fools mock us with your stupid little costumes. I thought having you face _real_ monsters would deter you from mocking us, but you've made it clear that showing mercy is useless. You fools will _pay_! Let's see how you like being the monsters you all mock!" Then the warlock started to chant.

Alissa's eyes widened in fear when she realized what the warlock was doing. He was casting another curse!

"Everyone take your masks off!" she screamed in warning to the crowd. But it was too late. The curse had already started taking effect. All around her, people were doubling over as humans and standing as monsters. Zigfried laughed at the destruction he had caused and siappeared with a swirl of his cloak. _Shit, shit shit!_

"Seto, Mokuba, we have to get out of here and think of a plan! We-!" she turned to both Kaiba brothers and froze when she saw Mokuba standing. His face had turned a pale, sickly green color and looked rough, almost scaly. Huge yellow teeth protruded from his bottom jaw. He blinked his eyes open and they were yellow with slit pupils.

"Mokuba," Alissa replied, slowly approaching the younger Kaiba, with her arms held out in a placating gesture. The younger Kaiba growled in response and swiped at Alissa with one of his clawed hands. _Shit! He doesn't remember who he is! Damn it!_

"Mokuba?" Seto asked in concern, drawing Alissa's attention to the elder brother. "Mokuba, snap out of it!"

"He's not your brother anymore," Alissa replied. "That curse changed him into the thing he was dressed up as!"

"Then why didn't it do anything to me? I still look the same," the brunet replied, turning over his hands as he inspected himself. Everything about him looked normal.

"Because you dressed as a warlock! Warlocks look exactly like humans except they have-." Then it dawned on her and she paused. "Wait, warlocks have magic!"

"Tch, way to point out the obvious."

"No, Seto, if that spell turns everyone into what they dressed up as, then that would make you a-."

"Warlock," he said, finishing her sentence.

"Which means you're the only one who can stop this!"

"What? Up until recently, I thought monsters were a stupid fantasy! I still haven't accepted the fact that all this stupid stuff is real!"

"Your brother has been turned into a goblin! How much more proof do you need?"

"I don't know anything about magic!"

"You have to try something! And you need to do it soon because I think everyone else is starting to notice that we're the odd ones out!"

Seto looked around following Alissa's statement to see the crowd of monsters zeroing in on them.

"Seto, do something! Anything!" Alissa screamed in desperation, holding her blade up in warning to hold the monsters at bay.

Suddenly, words of a language he'd never learned sprang into the brunet's mind. They were the words of a spell! He knew what to do. The brunet shut his eyes and began to chant the words that came to his head. He felt a buzz in his head and a warmth in his belly. Then, he actually _felt_ his hands start to thrum with magical energy. He cracked open his eyes and looked down to see his hands glowing a light blue color. _It's working!_ The blue glow from his hands began to increase in intensity until the whole room was bathed in the bright light. When the light faded and his eyes adjusted after the temporary blindness, he saw that everyone in the room had collapsed to their knees.

"Mokuba!" he called in concern, bolting to Mokuba's side and guiding him into a standing position with one hand on his back.

"Seto?" Mokuba asked in confusion.

Seto used his free hand to reach for the bottom of his younger brother's mask. To his relief, the mask lifted, revealing the younger Kaiba's very real, very _human_ face.

"What just happened?" Mokuba asked, pulling his mask off the rest of the way.

"Seto, you did it!" Alissa exclaimed in relief, interrupting Seto before he could answer by throwing her arms around his neck.

The brunet stumbled back a little bit and then slowly, awkwardly moved his arm to Alissa's waist to prevent her from falling.

"Sorry!" Alissa apologized, springing back after a few awkward seconds.

"It's fine," Seto replied, settling his expression into his usual stoic mask.

"You saved us, Seto!" Mokuba cheered, hugging his brother around the middle.

Seto's face softened and he hugged his brother close before replying "I'm just glad you're safe."

"Thanks for the help, Mr. Skeptic," Alissa thanked, lightly nudging the brunet's shoulder.

A genuine smile spread across the brunet's face. "Anytime."

* * *

 **This theme was SO fun. I didn't know for sure where I wanted to go with this theme originally but then Halloweentown II came on and gave me this idea. I actually really like how this chapter turned out, even though Seto is probably OOC, but hey, socially awkward, pining Seto kind of makes me happy. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. I'll try to get the rest of the themes up soon!**


	29. Howl

**Hey, guys! The game of catch up continues! This theme is a werewolf AU. In this theme, Seto, Mokuba, and Alissa are all werewolves. However, Alissa is a part of a pack, while Seto and Mokuba are sort of their own pack of two. Seto and Mokuba are nomads and stumble into the territory of Alissa's pack and it causes some problems. Also, in this AU, the transformation from human to werewolf is COMPLETELY voluntarily. The only effect the moon has on werewolves in this AU is that they're at their strongest at a full moon and their weakest at a new moon. Also, the italicized sections that are in quotes are all telepathic conversations. In this AU, werewolves are able to communicate in their wolf forms through a mind link, and that goes for any werewolf, regardless of if they're in the same pack of not. It's how they communicate since they can't talk once they're in their wolf forms. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

" _I think we all have_

 _to fight the_

 _werewolf within us somehow."_

 _-William Kempe_

 **XXIX.**

Alissa recognized that howl. It was the howl of her pack's Alpha, Alister. It was a howl meaning danger. Something or _someone_ was in their territory. Alissa broke out into a sprint. Her joints and bones shifted as she ran until she was on all fours in her full wolf form. She sensed the rest of her pack falling in behind her, all ready to fight off whatever intruder had encroached on their territory. She was close enough to smell Alister's scent now, it was heavy with anger and aggressiveness. An unfamiliar scent invaded her nostrils as she ran and she growled. It was the unfamiliar scent of _two_ werewolves. The pack finally reached Alister and formed a half circle behind him, ready to attack if the intruders didn't vacate their territory.

Alister stood, his fiery red fur bristling and his gray eyes narrowing in on the intruders. His lips were curled back to reveal his snarling teeth. The werewolf crouched menacingly in front of Alister was roughly the same size, if not a little larger. The werewolf's fur was a chestnut brown color and its eyes were a deep blue, like the ocean.

Alissa's lips curled in warning until a different scent invaded her senses. It was barely distinguishable from the scent the other werewolves were giving off, but it was there. It smelt like _fear_. Her eyes slid to the figure behind the invading werewolf, the figure the werewolf was blocking from Alister, and now the rest of the pack. The figure that the invading wolf was _protecting_.

It was another werewolf, and by the creature's size, Alissa could tell it was a child. The small werewolf had a shiny black coat and blue-gray eyes that flicked warily to each member of the pack. The small werewolf whined and pressed its ears back in fear.

After taking another sniff of the air, Alissa could smell blood. The child was injured. But something told her that these werewolves were not here to harm them. The next thing she realized was that the smaller wolf smelled similar to the other. _Brothers_.

Alissa saw Alister getting ready to pounce on the larger intruding werewolf. She couldn't let this happen. Not to an innocent child and his brother. She leapt in front of Alister before he could pounce and landed in front of the two brothers protectively.

" _What are you doing, Alissa?"_

" _Let them be."_

" _Move out of the way. You know how we deal with trespassers."_

" _They're not here to hurt us. One of them is injured."_

Alister growled low in his throat, glaring at Alissa and his lip curling in warning.

 _"Alissa, move. Now."_

 _"No."_

 _"Do not disobey me! Move, now!"_

 _"I'm not moving! If you want to hurt them you'll have to go through me!"_

Alissa stood her ground, snarling at Alister as her black fur bristled.

Alister growled again and looked around at the rest of the pack. They were all watching, gazes flicking from Alissa to Alister, waiting for a command from their Alpha. Alister snarled before standing down and turning around to flee.

As the rest of the pack followed, Alissa turned her attention to the two brothers. The elder one watched her, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 _"Go."_

The older wolf stared at Alissa for several more seconds before returning to his brother's side and gently nudging him ahead. Alissa watched as the duo disappeared into the vastness of the forest. Then she ran.

 **xxx**

"What the hell were you thinking?" Alister demanded once they had returned home and shifted back to their human forms.

"Stopping you from killing an innocent child and his brother."

"They trespassed into _our_ territory."

"They weren't going to hurt us."

"How do you know? They're strangers! You put the whole pack at risk!"

"I knew they wouldn't hurt us. I trusted them."

"Need I remind you what happened the last time you convinced us to trust intruders?"

Alissa felt as if she had been punched in the gut. Her nostrils flared and she growled, "don't you _dare_ bring that up!"

"You should've learned by now that we can't trust people who aren't in our pack! Your naivety cost us once, and it could have cost us again tonight!"

"But it didn't."

"Not only did you endanger to whole pack," Alister pressed on as if he hadn't heard her. "But you challenged me in front of the pack!"  
"Oh, get over yourself!"

"I'm the Alpha here, Alissa. I _know_ what needs to be done to protect the longevity of the pack. You're my Beta-."

"I'm not your Beta," she interrupted through gritted teeth. "I may be the pack's Beta but I am not _your_ Beta!"

"But you are still a Beta." He paused to close in and glare down at her. "Start behaving like one."

* * *

 **Well, that's the end of this theme. I actually really like this AU…I'm thinking of developing it into a full-length story. Let me know if that's something you guys would be interested in reading! So, it's almost one o' clock in the morning where I live so it is no longer October BUT it still IS October in some places (like Hawaii) so I haven't failed yet! The next two themes will be up soon!**


	30. Full Moon

**Hey, guys! So, this theme is a follow up to the previous theme, Howl. Enjoy!**

* * *

" _My heart is a wolf ruled by two moons;_

 _one which beckons me back into the night,_

 _the other is calling me home."_

 _-Maza-Dohta_

 **XXX.**

Alissa groaned and blinked her eyes open slowly. The ceiling of the cave slowly swam into focus. Wait, cave? She sat bolt upright when she realized she wasn't home in her bed. Instead, she was laying on a bed of straw with a blanket draped over her in the middle of a cave. She made to get up but a sharp pain in her abdomen made her stop. She looked down and noticed that underneath the large shirt she was wearing, her stomach was wrapped in layers of thick gauze. She placed her hand over the spot on her abdomen that the pain was radiating from as she raked her brain to try and remember what had happened.

She remembered she'd gone on a solo hunt. The next thing she knew, she was running through the dense forest, pursued by hunters. She remembered a loud bang, a sudden pain in her abdomen, then nothing. _I…was I shot?_

"You're awake," a deep voice said suddenly.

Alissa jerked in response, wincing in pain as the sharp movement had aggravated her injury. She stared at the man who had entered; presumably from deeper within the cave, with a scrutinizing gaze. The man was about her age, maybe a year older and he was _tall_. Alissa guessed that he had to be at least six feet tall. Probably more. His complexion was pale and his face angular. Neatly combed chestnut hair framed his face and sharp cheekbones. His eyes were blue, a deep blue, like the ocean. Alissa recognized those eyes.

"You. You're the werewolf from the other night." She winced when her abdomen throbbed. "Was I shot?"

"Hn, what do you think?" the brunet answered.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around the inside of the cave.

"In a cave."

"Obviously," she replied, annoyed. "I mean where is the cave? Are we still in my pack's territory?"

"We're just outside of it."

"Oh." She massaged her head to dull the pain that had suddenly made itself known there. "How long was I unconscious?"

"For about a day."

"A day? Shit! Alister is probably looking for me!"

"Alister? You mean the little Chihuahua that thought he'd be able to beat me in a fight?" the brunet asked with a cocky smirk.

"He happens to be the Alpha," she defended. "Look, I really have to go." She made to get up again but as soon as she was on her feet she stumbled back.

"Are you stupid?" he asked, moving forward in time to stop her from falling and ease her to the ground. "You're still injured."

"I need to get back."

"Hn, don't be an idiot. You'll die out there if you leave in this condition. You at least need to have your bandages changed. Unless of course you want to die of gangrene, then by all means be my guest."

She frowned but laid back down anyway. He _did_ have a point. Taking her restfulness as permission to continue, the brunet disappeared in the direction he had come from for a minute or two before returning with bandages in one hand and a bowl filled with a green gel-like substance in the other.

"What's that for?" she asked, eyeing the bowl as he set it down beside the bed of straw.

"It's to accelerate the healing process and prevent infection," he answered as he put the bandages into the bowl to soak. While they soaked, he reached forward and slowly started to unwrap the gauze around her middle. As he unwrapped, she noticed that some of the innermost layers of the gauze were bloody.

"Thank you for saving me," she replied, wincing as he applied some of the cool gel to her injury.

"Tch, I only did it because Mokuba wouldn't let me leave you there," he replied, brow creasing in concentration as he worked. "I also owed you for protecting Mokuba the other night, and I hate owing people favors."

"Mokuba? Is that your brother."

"Obviously."

"Well, thank you-uh-." She paused. She didn't even know this man's name to thank him.

"Seto."

"Thank you, Seto. My name's Alissa."

"Hn." He scoffed, tossing the old bandages to the side and taking the new bandages out from where they had been soaking. He wrapped her abdomen in the new bandages, an awkward silence falling over the two. Several seconds passed before the brunet spoke again.

"Why did you stop your pack from attacking us?"

"Hm?"

"We were in your territory. Most packs would have seen that as enough reason to attack."

"I don't know," she replied honestly, shrugging her shoulders. "I just had a feeling that you guys weren't in our territory to do us harm. You were just looking for somewhere safe. Plus, your brother was injured so-."

"Most packs would have seen that as a window of opportunity for attack. Why didn't you?"

"I guess because I had a younger brother once. So, I understand the need you had to protect Mokuba."

"What happened to him?" Seto asked. He knew he shouldn't be asking a complete stranger about her brother, but he couldn't stop himself. He wanted to know her motives for stepping in to protect him and his brother.

"He was killed," she finally answered after several seconds of tense silence. "Three nomadic werewolves came through our territory. I thought we could trust them, but we couldn't. They took out eight members of our pack before we could stop them. My brother was one of the eight."

"And yet you trusted me and my brother? Even after all that happened?"

"Like I said, I just had a feeling."

The duo fell into another awkward silence until the brunet finished wrapping her injury. After he finished, he gathered up the bowl and used bandages and stepped back.

"You'll need to change the dressing every few hours," he replied.

"Thank you."

"Try not to get yourself killed again," he said over his shoulder as he exited.

Alissa couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips. She had a feeling that this wasn't the last she'd be seeing the brunet.

* * *

 **Well, there's theme thirty. The ending was probably abrupt and there were probably a few moments where Seto was OOC, but hey, AUs are hard sometimes. Anyway, the thirty-first and final theme will have to be uploaded tomorrow because I can barely keep my eyes open. Again, let me know if this werewolves AU is something you guys would like to see as a full-length story. I'd be down to write one if you guys are interested. Anyway, I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween and I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!**


	31. Party

**Hey, guys. Well, here it is, the final theme for the October Theme Challenge. Although I didn't complete the theme challenge in the month of October; I** _ **did**_ **complete it within a month of starting it, and I'm proud of myself. I did this theme challenge to get my creativity flowing again after months of no motivation or creativity, and I can say that this theme challenge did just that. So, thank you guys for reading and for the continued support. Enjoy the final theme.**

* * *

" _When black cats prowl_

 _and pumpkins gleam,_

 _may luck be yours_

 _on Halloween."  
-Unknown_

 **XXXI.**

"Setoooo," Alissa whined as said brunet guided her up the long driveway of their home. She trudged along slowly, almost complete deadweight against the CEO's chest.

"Come on, Alissa. We're almost home," Seto replied, supporting her and resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He loved her but she was a _very_ annoying drunk.

"But the party isn't over," she whined, indignantly.

"You've had enough. We need to get you to bed."

"I'm fine," she slurred, insistently. "I know my drinking threshold, thank you very much." She struggled out of his grip and stumbled a little, holding her arms out to keep her balance.

"See, I told you m'fine," she said with a smug smirk after she had righted herself.

The CEO huffed. He'd had enough of this. She needed to get to bed, and she clearly wasn't going to go on her own. Without another word, he put an arm underneath her knees and lifted her up so she was cradled against his chest.

The dark-haired girl was having none of it. She squirmed in his arms, trying unsuccessfully to get out of his hold.

"Setoooo, put me down!" she whined, pushing against his shoulders. "You know I don't like being lifted!"

"You need to get to bed and you're clearly not going to go on your own. Now stop squirming or I'll drop you."

She huffed but stopped her struggling, crossing her arms over her chest with a pout. Once they reached the front door, Seto set her down, keeping one arm around her waist to support her so he could use his other hand to dig into his pocket for the keys and unlock the door. He opened the door, picked her up again, and then carried her inside. He shut the door with his foot after their entrance and somehow managed to kick off his shoes.

"Let's get your shoes off," he replied, setting her down again. He stood beside her, supporting her while she struggled to take off her shoes. She finally managed to get her shoes off and then put her arms out expectantly.

"Carry me," she moaned.

"I thought you didn't like being lifted," he replied with a teasing smirk.

"Stop teasing me!" she complained, stomping her foot. "The bed is too far."

"Okay. I'll carry you," he complied, lifting her into his arms again. "But you can't go to sleep yet. We've got to get you ready for bed and you need to drink some water."

She only moaned in response, burying her face into his broad chest.

He carried her up the stairs and set her down on their bed once they reached their room.

"Don't fall asleep yet," he replied, taking the empty glass from the nightstand and making his way to the bathroom to fill the glass with water. He returned to find her laying back on the bed with her eyes closed.

"Alissa come on. You need to get ready for bed."

"M' tired," she slurred in response.

"At least drink some water and get out of your costume."

She let out a loud groan and dragged herself back into a sitting position. She fumbled with the leg guards of her Wonder Woman costume, letting out tiny curses every time she failed to get them off.

The brunet set the glass of water down and came to her side. Working the straps of the leg guards and gauntlets free so Alissa could slip them off.

"Thanks," she mumbled, tossing the guards, gauntlets, and recently removed tiara to the floor.

"Do you need help with the dress?" he asked, holding his arms out to catch her if she fell as she stood up again.

"I can do it," she mumbled, pulling the polyester costume over her head, baring herself of everything except her underwear and strapless bra.

"Happy?" she sassed.

"Drink some water," he replied, pointing to the glass of water he left for her on the nightstand. "I'll get you one of my shirts to sleep in."

"Fine," she grumbled, reaching for the glass as she watched him search through their drawers. She drank a little more than half the glass then returned it to its place on the nightstand.

"Arms up," Seto demanded, approaching the bed again with one of his sweaters. The dark-haired girl complied and he took the opportunity to pull the sweater over her head.

"Can I go to sleep now?" she asked with a yawn.

"Yes. Get to sleep."

She hugged herself, sighing contentedly at the warmth the sweater gave her and laid back down on the bed.

"G'night, Seto," she drawled, sleepily.

"Good night, Alissa."

"Happy Halloween."

 **xxx**

Alissa groaned as she woke. Her head was pounding. _Shit, I drank too much last night_ , she thought regretfully as she cracked open her eyes. She groaned and shut her eyes again to soothe the vertigo that assaulted her as soon as she cracked open her eyes.

"There's water and some Advil on the nightstand," the voice of the brunet CEO said from beside her.

When she rolled over and sat up, she did so too quickly. The room spun and she groaned. She held her head in her hands for several seconds as she waited for her vertigo to ease. When it did, she looked at the CEO who was sitting up in bed beside her, his laptop opened in his lap.

"Are you going to be sick? If you're going to throw up I'd prefer you didn't do it in our sheets." He finally pulled his gaze away from his work to look at her.

"No, I think I'm fine," she groaned, reaching for the two medicine capsules and the glass of water on the nightstand. "Don't you have work?"

"Everything that needs to be done can be done from here today."

"Oh." She paused. She was a little embarrassed about the previous night. She felt guilty that the CEO had to take care of her. "Sorry about last night. I shouldn't have had so much to drink."

"I told you to stop after you'd had three drinks. You've always been a lightweight."

"I know," she said guiltily. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Hn, you certainly weren't going to do it yourself."

"I know," she replied, inching towards the CEO and resting her head on his shoulder. "Really though. Thank you. I know I'm annoying when I'm drunk."

"Tch, that's putting it lightly."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, burrowing her face further into the crook of his neck.

He looked down at her, unable to fight the small smile that began to spread across his lips. "I'm glad you had fun."

* * *

 **Well, everyone, that's it. The October Theme Challenge is completed! Thank you again for all of you that read and reviewed this story. I appreciate all of you for the support. Thanks again and I'll talk to you all soon when I update next!**


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